Chuck Johnston

Omnichannel is an evolution of multichannel retailing. It is focused on a seamless customer experience across all channels - dotcom, brick and mortar, mobile, call center, etc.- in all transactions and interactions with a retail brand. Customers want a seamless shopping and return experience. Nothing annoys them more than buying an item online and being restricted or challenged in returning an item to a physical store. In this sense, mastery of omnichannel will be key to retaining customers. There are a multitude of challenges these integrated experiences bring to retailers and suppliers alike in the areas of inventory assortment and management, order fulfillment, policy management, promotions strategy management, and more. This panel addresses:

• Driving seamless integration of the online and store network: Ensuring that your customers see you as one system rather than multiple channels with separate inventory, delivery and returns practices.
• Integrating DF and forward logistics operations
• Leveraging inventory in the stores to fulfill a portion of your orders and reduce order to delivery timelines
• Tracking product serial numbers
• Inventory management challenges
• When an algorithm decides that a buy online, deliver from store order makes sense to clear excess inventory, how do you handle that product coming back to you?
• Best practices for consumer returns management and return to vendor (RTV) management

If your company is considering outsourcing reverse logistics, this panel session is a must attend. Walk through the process - from preparing a request for information (RFI) to including consultants knowledgeable in the outsourcing process to asking for a request for quote (RFQ). What are the pitfalls and opportunities when engaging with third party service providers? How you can you build the business case for outsourcing? What kind of activities can be outsourced? This panel will explore:

• Not an all or nothing proposition: Types of activities (return to vendor, liquidation, triage and repair) that can be outsourced Is there a prototypical customer that may receive more benefit from outsourcing?
• How can you establish that the benefits outweigh the costs and make the business case internally? How can service providers assist in that process?
• How do you determine who best suits your needs in the selection process?
• Weighing short term vs. long term costs
• Ensuring providers can integrate with retailer systems and do so without requiring their IT group to spend an inordinate amount of time on the process
• Measurement and accountability: How do you measure performance and make sure it’s right on an ongoing basis? What are the typical KPIs measured on an ongoing basis (I.e. turnaround time, turn on return to vendor, inventory accuracy)?