The O+F Advisor provides the expert strategic advice and practical techniques that Operations professionals urgently need to improve efficiencies, productivity, cost savings, and customer service. The O+F Advisor covers the entire fulfillment process from the moment an order is entered to its delivery at the customer’s doorstep.
 Shipwire Expands into Europe
Shipwire, a warehouse and shipping service geared for e-tailers, has expanded into Europe with a new fulfillment center in East Sussex, U.K....
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How to Cope with Rising Shipping Costs
By: By Rob Martinez
Shippers have really taken a hit in recent years. For one, the general rate increase for each of the past two years has been the highest in more than a decade. What’s more, accessorial charges have increased and new ones are being added every year. ...
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Use Full-Spectrum Coaching to Make Every Agent an Expert
By: By Kathryn E. Jackson
If you’re a contact center coach, you know there are good agents, decent agents and lousy agents. So how can you close the performance gaps between these groups? One way is to use full-spectrum coaching....
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Close Performance Gaps with Full-Spectrum Coaching
By: By Kathryn E. Jackson
Every contact center has its top performers, average performers and poor performers. The problem is, most contact center coaches tend to just accept this fact and they do little to try and close the gap....
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Aberdeen: Most Warehouses Planning Redesign by 2010
A new report from market research firm Aberdeen finds that 97% of warehouse professionals are planning to redesign their facilities in the next 24 months -- with 56% of best-in-class companies planning to improve operations within the next year....
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West at Home Intros Security System for At-Home Agents
By: By Patrick Barnard
There’s no question that the remote, or home-based contact center agent model is poised for future growth: Market research firm IDC predicts there will be more than 300,000 remote agents working in the U.S. by 2010. But the biggest barrier to adoption remains security. Because remote agents are just that – remote – it can be challenging to monitor each and every agent’s activities.
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Teddy Bears Merchant Calls on Monitoring System
By: By Patrick Barnard
Up until a few years ago, the contact center managers at Vermont Teddy Bear would monitor the performance of the agents by walking up and down the aisles and listening in on random calls. If a manager happened to hear a problem, he would meet with the agent later to discuss it.
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Package Properly to Improve Your Bottom Line
By: By Thomas Kiesling
Everyone knows that improper packaging can lead to damaged product, which in turn can lead to returns, wasted shipping expense and customer dissatisfaction. In a worst-case scenario, improper packaging can prevent customers from buying again and generate negative word-of-mouth. So maybe it's time to give your packaging a little more thought and emphasis.
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The Intelligent Customer Front Door
By: By Brian Bischoff
How a company delivers customer service leaves a lasting impression: A positive experience leads to increased loyalty and sales, while a poor experience leads to frustration and increased churn. That’s why forward-thinking companies take a proactive approach to customer service....
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What You Need to Know About DHL Deal
By: By Gerard Hempstead
By now you’ve probably heard that DHL is making radical changes to try to stem its escalating operating losses in the U.S. The courier announced a few weeks ago it would discontinue flying its own dedicated airline network, and instead outsource its "uplift" to United Parcel Service.
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U.K. Contact Centers Slow to Adopt Remote Agent Model
Global communications company BT recently joined up with contact center technology company CosmoCom to promote adoption of green IT practices including the use of remote agents among contact centers in the U.K....
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Is Your Warehouse an Ugly Baby?
By: By Rene Jones
Gas is more than $4.50 a gallon, transportation costs are going through the roof, your employees are struggling to keep their homes and your customers are scrutinizing every line item on their invoices. As a result, your supply chain is now more crucial than ever to your organization’s success. ...
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Talking Points for Picking a Web Chat Provider
By: By Jim Dicso
If you’re an e-commerce manager and you’re considering a Web chat system to boost your online conversion rates, do your homework before picking a provider. Focus on selecting a system (including people, process, technology, and metrics to measure performance) that allows you to take advantage of the upside of online conversion, while mitigating the risks inherent with any technology-enabled initiative....
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Contact Center News Round-Up
Looking at the amount of news coming out of the contact center industry lately, one would never guess we’ve entered a period of slow economic growth: Vendors are pumping out announcements about new products and software upgrades at the same unrelenting pace they were about a year ago. Here are a few announcements from this past week that caught our attention...
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Study Predicts Growing Demand for Protective Packaging
A new study from market research firm Freedonia predicts that demand for protective packaging in the U.S. will grow 4.6% annually over the next four years. The protective packaging industry will increase from $4.1 billion currently to more than $5 billion by 2012....
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A Look at Two New Systems from the U.K.
By: By Ernie Schell
Two systems making their debut on Multichannel Merchant's upcoming annual software roundup are imports from the U.K.: 1) Omnica, a new solution developed on the Microsoft Axapta platform, and represented in this country by nFocus in Deerfield, IL; and 2) the ActiveSeries, a suite of veteran SQL/Server applications installed in several dozen U.K. facilities, represented here by Datamann in Wilder, VT....
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On the Return Trip: Managing Reverse Logistics
By: By Rob Martinez
Multichannel marketers need to pay just as much attention to reverse logistics, or the process taking goods back into "forward-available" inventory, as they do getting goods out the door to customers. Why? Because returns are a fact of life: Return rates commonly range from 5% for hard goods and gifts to more than 25% for shoes and apparel. ...
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Business Model Insight is Key Element of Successful Fulfillment Effort
By: By Chris Rebholz
If you’re a direct merchant that outsources your fulfillment, the single most important thing that can be done to ensure back-end success is to share information with your third-party provider. In so doing, you can enable your fulfillment provider to proactively offer the most effective solutions for your particular needs.
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Drs. Foster and Smith Signs on with Bill Me Later
Drs. Foster and Smith, a provider of pet supplies and information, is now offering its customers the ability to pay for Website and catalog purchases with Bill Me Later, a secure alternative payments system which allows online shoppers to purchase items without the use of a credit card and pay for them later....
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E-Learning Systems Revolutionizing Call Center Training
By: By Patrick Barnard
It wasn't until about five years ago that e-learning systems started seeing rapid adoption in the call center industry. Today, most enterprises are using e-learning in their contact centers, and many small to medium sized business have also discovered the many advantages it brings for improving agent performance....
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An Inside Look at Logistics from Asia
By: By Gerard Hempstead
A retired vice president for DHL, Gerard “Jerry” Hempstead spent most of last year on the ground in China observing the country's manufacturing, transportation and logistics. Hemstead, president of Hempstead Consulting (www.hempsteadconsulting.com), a firm that helps companies reduce their transportation costs, offers his take on Asian logistics....
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Evaluating the Performance of Your ‘Net Reps’
By: By Penny Reynolds and Pamela Trickey
It takes more than just technology to transform your call center agents into “net reps.” You also have to implement a comprehensive hiring and training plan to ensure your agents have the skills they need to deliver good customer service using Web-based channels. In addition to finding – and training – the ideal agents for supporting these Web interactions, you will also need to continuously monitor their performance to ensure consistency of service across all channels....
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