What Happened
With the advance in connected devices and local delivery economy, more and more brands are trying out new ways to help customers order and reorder without stepping into stores. This week alone, three major brands have come out with on-demand fulfillment services to better serve their customers:
• Stationery and office supply retailer Staples is tinkering with its iconic Easy Button to make it a connected device that can take orders via speech commands. Sources says the feature will focus on reordering, tapping into purchase data to discern the product preferences of each customer.
• Upscale grocery retailer Whole Foods has invested in delivery service Instacart and made Instacart the exclusive delivery partner for Whole Foods’ perishables with a five-year delivery partnership.
• New Samsung printers are hooked up with Amazon’s Dash Replenishment service so they can automatically reorder ink refills when the supply is running low.
What Brands Need To Do
On-demand fulfillment allows retail stores to double as digital distribution centers, lowering the barrier of entry for interactions with customers in the real world. These three brands offer some good examples for other retailers and CPG brands to follow in utilizing new technologies and services to meet the growing consumer demand for convenience and instant gratification.
For more information on how brands can modernize their retail experiences to better engage with customers, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.
