Case Studies Ship-From-Store Fulfillment

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	Ship-From-Store Fulfillment

Ship-From-Store Fulfillment

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Retail
Applicable Functions	Sales & Marketing Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Inventory Management Predictive Replenishment
Services	Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	The company traditionally used its in-store inventory to fulfill online orders, but management thought this ship-from-store program may actually be hurting sales by causing out of stocks for in-demand products. Read More
About Customer	A leading retailer with several hundred stores across the U.S. needed to understand how its ship-from-store fulfillment program affected sales. The retailer aimed to decide which stores, if any, should continue to fill online orders with its inventory. The client used APT’s Test & Learn for Sites to measure the impact of ending ship-from-store fulfillment in a subset of its stores, revealing that removing the program drove a 4% lift in in-store sales without impacting online sales. While the change drove a positive sales lift, analysis showed that removal of the program also caused inventory build-up for select items. With an understanding of how the program impacted sales and product inventory levels, the retailer adapted its ship-from-store strategy, leading to incremental sales and less inventory build-up. Read More
Solution	The client used APT Test & Learn for Sites to measure the incremental impact of ending its ship-from-store fulfillment program. Using the APT software, the retailer designed a test in which it compared the performance of a select group of 'test' stores where the program was removed, to similar 'control' stores that continued to fill online orders with store inventory. Results of the analysis revealed that in the period after ship-from-store was discontinued, test stores experienced a 4% sales lift and online sales were unaffected on average, confirming the hypothesis that out of stocks were causing sales decline. While the overall results of the test were positive, tracking performance for three months showed that, without ship-from-store, some locations experienced build-up of inventory for certain products. The software automatically segmented results, revealing which products experienced build-up and enabling the retailer to refine the ship-from-store program by limiting online order fulfillment to those specific products. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Sales & Marketing

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Predictive Replenishment

Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

The company traditionally used its in-store inventory to fulfill online orders, but management thought this ship-from-store program may actually be hurting sales by causing out of stocks for in-demand products.

About Customer

A leading retailer with several hundred stores across the U.S. needed to understand how its ship-from-store fulfillment program affected sales. The retailer aimed to decide which stores, if any, should continue to fill online orders with its inventory. The client used APT’s Test & Learn for Sites to measure the impact of ending ship-from-store fulfillment in a subset of its stores, revealing that removing the program drove a 4% lift in in-store sales without impacting online sales. While the change drove a positive sales lift, analysis showed that removal of the program also caused inventory build-up for select items. With an understanding of how the program impacted sales and product inventory levels, the retailer adapted its ship-from-store strategy, leading to incremental sales and less inventory build-up.

Solution

The client used APT Test & Learn for Sites to measure the incremental impact of ending its ship-from-store fulfillment program. Using the APT software, the retailer designed a test in which it compared the performance of a select group of 'test' stores where the program was removed, to similar 'control' stores that continued to fill online orders with store inventory. Results of the analysis revealed that in the period after ship-from-store was discontinued, test stores experienced a 4% sales lift and online sales were unaffected on average, confirming the hypothesis that out of stocks were causing sales decline. While the overall results of the test were positive, tracking performance for three months showed that, without ship-from-store, some locations experienced build-up of inventory for certain products. The software automatically segmented results, revealing which products experienced build-up and enabling the retailer to refine the ship-from-store program by limiting online order fulfillment to those specific products.

Impact #1	The retailer used the APT analysis to understand the types of stores where removing ship-from-store would have a positive profit impact.
Impact #2	The analysis helped identify the specific types of products that should continue to be shipped from stores to avoid inventory build-up.
Impact #3	By tailoring and targeting the ship-from-store program based on these insights, the client drove significant sales improvement.

Impact #1

The retailer used the APT analysis to understand the types of stores where removing ship-from-store would have a positive profit impact.

Impact #2

The analysis helped identify the specific types of products that should continue to be shipped from stores to avoid inventory build-up.

Impact #3

By tailoring and targeting the ship-from-store program based on these insights, the client drove significant sales improvement.

Benefit #1	Removing the ship-from-store program drove a 4% lift in in-store sales without impacting online sales.

Benefit #1

Removing the ship-from-store program drove a 4% lift in in-store sales without impacting online sales.

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Overview

Ship-From-Store Fulfillment

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit