eCommerce logistics provider Radial has introduced a solution to help brands to optimize their fulfillment operations.
Radial Fast Track, announced Tuesday (March 25) is designed for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) fulfillment, the company said in a news release.
“With the volatile economic environment, emergence of new market disruptors and shifting consumer behavior, brands need a dependable partner to help them adapt their logistics operations,” said Tom Schmitt, CEO of Radial.
“Radial Fast Track offers businesses an efficient, cost-effective way to confidently address market challenges with an experienced and reliable 3PL [third-party logistics].”
The company says its in-house surveys show that nearly half of growing retailers are struggling to manage growth and scale within their fulfillment operations and or have limited ability to add new fulfillment channels and capabilities.
Fast Track, the company added, lets brands scale fulfillment capabilities with Radial’s network of 20-plus centers as their needs shift, while benefiting from Radial’s transportation, returns and payment solutions offerings.
“The cost-effective, pay-as-you-go solution provides high-performance, reliable technology systems with prebuilt integrations with hundreds of commerce platforms and retail channels, as well as simple setup to get operational in as little as one week,” the release said.
In other eCommerce news, PYMNTS wrote recently about efforts by direct-to-consumer (D2C) retailers to eliminate the middleman in selling their products, which have met limited success.
“The combination of the D2C and wholesale models (and the availability via, say, Amazon), is an implicit nod to the fact that consumers want to find their brands on shelves in more ‘general’ forms of commerce,” that report said.
Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has underscored the appeal of the hybrid approach, as illustrated through the rise of the Click-and-Mortar™ shopper.
According to that research, nearly 40% of consumers across the seven countries surveyed by PYMNTS said they use digital tools across their shopping journeys. However, 71% of consumers stated that a brick-and-mortar location and interaction is integral to the shopping experience.
“The thought of no shipping costs or waiting, along with the desire for in-person assessments of product quality and suitability, drive consumers to stores,” we found. In addition, consumers want rewards to travel with them across channels, as the data shows that 71% of shoppers surveyed across the countries said they’d want to see coupons and other promotions offered in-store and online.