In a time for resiliency

A Time For ResiliencyIt’s

hard to imagine a more challengingtime for retailers. Their customers’steady migration to online purchasinghas dramatically accelerated due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Keeping thosecustomers means keeping them satisfied,and retailers are finding they can’t dothat alone. Since the complexities ofe-commerce are intense, retailers areincreasingly relying on experts in thefield. That reliance has put companieslike XPO Logistics in the spotlight,providing us an excellent opportunityto share our experience as retailers faceconsumers’ changing expectations.

Peak Preparedness

Fulfillment specialists live and breatheseasonal peaks, and we’ve been in peakmode since shortly after the pandemicbegan. Consumers working from homeand limiting their outside activitieshave created huge spikes in demandfor such products as office electronics,home improvement supplies andworkout equipment. With the approachof the holiday season—coming amidthe pandemic to create the mother of allpeaks—we certainly have our work cutout for us. That’s where our technologycomes in.

It would be impossible to scale thatmonster peak without the advancesin logistics automation we’ve helpedpioneer. Giant warehouses with afootprint of 1 million sq. ft. or more areequipped with “cobots,” automated pickcarts that work with our associates toimprove accuracy and boost productivityby as much as 100%. On a more advancedlevel, AI-powered robots bring shelvesto a stationary associate, a system that’sfour-to six-times faster than conventional picking methods.

What makes all of this work soseamlesslyis our proprietary warehousemanagement software, which interfacesdirectly with customers’ systems toprovide visibility into inventory flows.Our teams of data scientists havedeveloped other proprietary systems thatjack up productivity, including analyticsthat enable highly accurate demandforecasting and efficient manpower planning.

Using Technology To GetReturns Right

The other side of the e-fulfillment coin isthe science of returns processing. Up to30% of online purchases will be returned,meaning that consumers are our supplychain operation’s single largest vendor.And that gets complicated. In fact, it’sprobably the hardest thing we do.

When we receive a shipment fromVietnam, Bangladesh or China, it arrivesin uniform boxes on a pallet, withadvance notification, documentation andtracking information. When we receivea shipment from a consumer, it mayarrive in the form of a sweater stuffedinto an old shoe box, with or without theoriginal tags and packaging or a shippinglabel. We need to process that item asefficiently as possible in order to creditthe customer and get the item back intoinventory. The clock’s ticking, especiallyon fashion and seasonal items, and whatmakes it doable is our tight integrationand interfacing with customers’ systems.That cohesiveness enables us to quicklyidentify the item and create an electronicrecord for it so we can beat the clock.

Heroic Efforts In Tough Time

But as highly as we value our technology,we never forget that none of this would bepossible without the skills and dedicationof our frontline workers. They and theirpeers across the industry perseveredthroughout the pandemic under themost trying of circumstances. Theyworked every day to keep our way of lifegoing, even when it meant facing newchallenges.

Every frontline worker, whetherin a warehouse or in a truck, for ourcompany or any of our competitors, keptour country moving forward. Their workprovided us with the essential goods weneeded when our way of life got upended.They’re the ones who ultimately deservethe credit for giving us a sense ofnormalcy. For XPO, they helped cementour reputation as a trusted retail businesspartner, and for that we’re thankful.