That’s an Order
The majority of catalog companies use in-house shipping centers to handle fulfillment to customers.
According to the new Leader Perspectives survey conducted by New York City-based Winterberry Group, which polled top-level marketers at such companies as Sky Mall, Orvis, Delia’s, and Tiffany’s, 80 percent of catalogers handle at least part of their fulfillment in-house. Forty percent of those surveyed employ small-parcel carriers such as UPS as part of the mix, while nine percent and four percent, respectively, also hire their own carriers and/or third-party centers.
“Given the pressures of today’s business, it makes sense to employ an array of fulfillment strategies,” says Winterberry ceo Michael Petsky.
The survey found catalog companies actually prefer to handle fulfillment in-house, and more than half have in-house centers. The study also uncovered an interesting fact: Outbound shipping costs are now more than double inbound freight costs. (Inbound and outbound costs represent respective 2.9-percent and 6.5-percent slices of gross product sales.)
The Internet, which now accounts for 18 percent of industry sales, is having its own impact on fulfillment at companies such as J. Crew, LL Bean, and Fingerhut. “The Web does not impact inbound logistics as much as it does outbound fulfillment,” says one respondent. “If the Web site offers two-day delivery, then customers have to get their package in two days.”
No surprise here: Reducing costs and tracking fees are services most valued by catalogers, according to Winterberry.
