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~ Descartes pixi ~

The John Lewis Partnership is one of the United Kingdom’s most successful retailers. In

2013 they reported £9.54 billion in sales and won numerous industry awards including
‘Best Retailer,’ ‘Best Multichannel Retailer,’ ‘InStyle Online Beauty Awards,’ ‘Best
Online Department Store,’ ‘Verdict Customer Satisfaction Awards 2013,’ and ‘Retailer
of the Year,’ to name only a few. They were founded in 1929 by John Spedan Lewis,
with a motto still in use today: ‘Never knowingly undersold.’ Its name describes its
business: every employee is a partner in the company, receiving a share of annual profits
according to their salary. Following the company’s success in 2013, each employee’s
share equaled approximately nine week’s salary. Its product line includes a range of
categories, including furniture and appliances which require delivery and, in many cases,

installation and other services.

he challenge supply chain to support its expanding omnichannel presence.
‘Personalised’ and ‘customer-centric’ are parts of the A significant element of the program was fulfillment, espe-
Tmantra of omnichannel retailing. Those characteristics cially the end-to-end customer home delivery experience. As
are ubiquitous at the point-of-sale. Customers can purchase a a richly experienced retailer through both brick-and-mortar
product from physical, online and mobile points of sale, selecting and online channels, John Lewis understood the impor-
just the right size, color and so on. Providing this to customers tance of being able to instantly offer customers exactly what
through a well-integrated supply chain is a critical, common they want. They also saw a persistent flaw: when it came to
imperative for retailers of every size and for their customers. delivery, they — and all other retailers — were failing to offer
customers that same choice, convenience and certainty.
When it comes to home delivery, that same level of person-
alisation and customer-centricity is conspicuously absent. Working with a set of trusted solutions partners, including
Home delivery still operates on the premise of ‘any color as Descartes, John Lewis implemented Programme Q to focus
long as it’s black.’ Customers generally have only minimal on four key areas: optimised inventory, supply chain agility,
control over when and how a home delivery takes place. partner growth and empowerment, and fulfillment excel-
They are usually unable to confirm the exact delivery win- lence.
dow at the point-of-sale. They have to wait for a call back
(that’s often automated so there’s no chance to respond), When it came to the latter, John Lewis set a goal to make
which comes sometimes a long time after their purchase, to scheduling a product for delivery as easy, fast and flexible
be told what their actual delivery time will be. Should the for the customer as buying the product, while also being
order require separate services, these will have to be sched- profitable for John Lewis as well. To satisfy that mandate,
uled separately. If there are other orders already scheduled John Lewis provides a delivery scheduling system that lets
for the address, they will come separately. the thousands of customers who schedule delivery each day
choose and schedule the delivery date at the point-of-sale.
Virtually every multichannel or omnichannel retailer world- There are no delays between placing an order and schedul-
wide, John Lewis included, had a delivery-scheduling sys- ing the delivery. The customer has a range of choices so
tem that offered the customer no options, and which took that the delivery is scheduled at their convenience. They
a very long time, often days, to complete. This system also bundle in any required services (like electrical, installation
failed to offer the customer additional (and for the business or takeaway) at the same time. Just as importantly, John
profitable) services. Using the latest innovations in route- Lewis did this in a way that lowered its fulfillment costs by
optimisation and home delivery technology, John Lewis £1.8 and directly contributed tens of millions of pounds to
turned that model on its head. Today, customers choose its top line.
their delivery slot. They bundle in with a mouse click any
required services and they are confirmed at the point-of-sale The solution concept behind Programme Q
– at the same time their purchase is confirmed. And John John Lewis combined its own innovative thinking with
Lewis makes a profit doing it. Descartes Home Delivery Solution to create a fulfillment
process that delivers perfectly on the promise of customer-
‘Programme Q’ and customer-centric delivery centric delivery. To complete such a task, they had to
In 2006, John Lewis began a sweeping modernisation of its redefine the way they handled the obstacles they faced.

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