Jeremy L. McClain

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

Is there enough communication between your forward and reverse supply chain teams? Many organizations see a gap that must be filled. How do we align forward and reverse strategy?

• Ensuring reverse logistics has an equal voice in negotiations on the front end and that you’re thinking through the full product lifecycle
• How are retailers and logistics providers working together to achieve a high level of consolidation and optimization of both directions of product flow?
• Communicating the need for product classification (product that needs rework before hitting a distribution center, excess and obsolete inventory that is being removed from shelves entirely, etc.) throughout the network