www.truckandtrack.com Winter 2024/25 Truck and Track 21 DESCARTES™ Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that it has acquired Sellercloud, a leading provider of omnichannel ecommerce solutions. Based in the US, Sellercloud supports small and mid-market retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers with multi-channel ecommerce operations. Sellercloud’s Inventory Management Solutions and Order Management Solutions (IMS/OMS) help customers synchronise, plan and manage inventory levels across multiple sales channels. In addition, Sellercloud helps product sellers orchestrate the fulfillment process from routing orders to the right warehouse to enabling warehouse staff to better manage order picking, packing, shipping and returns. “Our integrated ecommerce solutions are designed to help product sellers through all phases of their growth, from a single product startup to a global multi-channel enterprise,” said Mikel Richardson, General Manager of ecommerce at Descartes. “Sellercloud expands our product suite with advanced inventory and order management capabilities that our customers have been asking for. When combined with Descartes’ existing ecommerce shipping, fulfilment and warehouse management solutions, we believe the result is a truly differentiated offering to manage the full lifecycle of domestic and cross-border ecommerce shipments.” “We continue to listen to our customers for key areas of investment in our Global Logistics Network,” said Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “Sellercloud directly complements our ecommerce investments in XPS, ShipRush, pixi, and Peoplevox, and we’re excited to welcome the Sellercloud employees, customers and partners into the Descartes family.” Sellercloud is headquartered in New Jersey. Descartes acquired Sellercloud for up-front consideration of approximately US $110 million satisfied from cash on hand, plus additional potential performance-based consideration. The maximum amount payable under the all-cash performance-based earn-out is US $20 million, based on the combined business achieving revenue-based targets in each of the first two years postacquisition. Any earn-out is expected to be paid in fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027. www.descartes.com Workforce shortages are affecting three quarters (74%) of logistics companies. With peak season fast approaching, what steps are being taken to avoid customer disappointment asks Andrew Tavener, Head of Marketing, Descartes. Peak Performance Supply chain performance is being undermined by an endemic lack of staff – with 37% of companies experiencing high workforce shortages. The biggest problems are in transportation operations, closely followed by warehouse operations, and the impacts are being felt throughout the supply chain, from financial performance to customer service. Staff shortages cause pressures throughout the year, but the problems are highlighted during peak season. Black Friday only works as a great opportunity to offload discounted stock, for example, if the fulfilment process is super-efficient. Any problems, from inaccurate picking to product damage or delivery errors, will rapidly wipe out any margin on a discounted item. The success of the Christmas buying frenzy depends, obviously, on customers receiving goods promptly– missed or late deliveries will lead to a massive spike in new year returns, refunds and product write-offs. Add in the potential loss of customers following bad experiences and inefficient fulfilment can wipe out the vital revenue boost retailers demand from peak season. Avoiding Mistakes Stressed people inevitably make mistakes – and understaffed warehouses and delivery teams are often under pressure, especially when demand spikes. With no signs of the workforce shortages abating, how are companies looking to improve fulfilment and deliver an optimal peak season customer experience? Scaling up to meet additional demand is becoming harder year on year due to the lack of available staff and so automation has become a priority – 58% of firms say senior management believe technology is key to mitigating the impact of the current workforce market. By prioritising both driver performance and warehouse operations, companies are looking to eradicate the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that deliver little added value and put enormous pressure on staff during peak seasons. Improving driver productivity has an immediate impact on delivery capacity and, as a result, customer experience, with companies exploring innovations in areas such as delivery route optimisation (54%) and driver mobile productivity (45%). Knowledge Workers Companies are not only struggling to recruit and retain warehouse and delivery staff; in fact, knowledge worker and manager positions are the hardest to fill. With 58% of companies confirming that workforce shortages have impacted customer services, they are turning to automation. Tools such as realtime shipment tracking can release knowledge workers from time wasted chasing information to focus on the analysis and planning required to optimise the business. Real-time shipment tracking also meets customer expectations for shipment visibility – and, by providing automated updates, a company can eliminate highly manually-intensive calls and emails and release pressure on customer service teams. Conclusion Improving automation not only reduces the stress for existing employees – and hence cuts the risk of errors that can damage the customer experience – it can also play a vital role in improving recruitment. Workers are not attracted to tedious, repetitive work and highly manual working environments are a serious deterrent, especially for millennial and Gen Z workers. Investing in workforce skills and providing an automated working environment that allows individuals to embrace addedvalue tasks enables organisations to improve recruitment and retention, and create a workforce with the capacity to respond effectively to the demands of peak season. https://routinguk.descartes.com Will Workforce Shortages cause Peak Season Chaos? Mikel Richardson, General Manager of ecommerce at Descartes Descartes Acquires Sellercloud Adds Inventory Management and Order Management Capabilities to Descartes’ Ecommerce Suite
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE1MTA=