Page 24 - CBM15

~ Descartes pixi ~

fact, in 2019, SNOCKS was named Retailer of the Year error rate low by having a warehouse employee responsible
on Amazon. Bauer does not see any potential for conflict for inventory control and by enlarging labels on shelves so
between the goals of establishing SNOCKS as a lifestyle that it is easier to see which location is being picked.
brand and selling via Amazon at the same time. “The
product range we offer on Amazon is specifically tailored Bauer does not regret the decision to run the order
to this distribution channel. Since Amazon is a price- fulfilment in-house: “It was definitely the right step and
sensitive market, brand products often have a harder time helps us stand out from the competition with our own
because they can be expensive, which is why some of our efficient logistics. With excellent customer service, fast
products are simply not listed there.” delivery, and outstanding customer experience with, above
all, excellent cost-effectiveness, we can position ourselves
The SNOCKS corporate vision is clear: online sales and much better and more clearly than if fulfilment had been
first-class service are not contradictory. “First-class service outsourced. It is important for us as a Direct to Consumer
means that we are available to our customers through all Brand to be part of the value chain. Not everything can
channels — WhatsApp, chat, phone, email, Instagram, be outsourced.” The company has also felt the advantage
Facebook, Amazon — to answer questions as quickly of in-house fulfilment in the wake of the COVID-19
as possible and provide good quality assistance.” The pandemic. Walter adds, “in April 2020, because Amazon
Descartes solution pixi supports the company’s customer prioritized essential goods, we experienced longer delivery
service objectives in multiple ways. “With Descartes times for our products — even up to four weeks. As a
pixi, we can process inquiries quickly and forward them result, more customers bought directly from our online
to the warehouse in real-time. New shipments can be shop instead of from Amazon, whereas orders at Amazon
triggered immediately, and we can ensure short delivery were relatively constant. In fact, in April, we were able to
times,” adds Walter. The reporting of current sales and ship 39,000 shop orders with eight warehouse staff.”
shipping developments is especially important for Walter
as warehouse manager: “We can see the most important What is going to happen at SNOCKS in the future? On
warehouse metrics directly in the Descartes pixi dashboard. the one hand, Walter has the continuous optimization of
For example, we track the number of orders that are the picking process on his agenda. On the other hand, he
shipped within 24 hours and have set ourselves a target of has his ear very close to the customer. “Services such as
93 %.” The basis for this is that inventory is always up to No-Rush-Delivery are increasingly requested by customers.
date, so customers can only order products that are actually In the past, for example, these were pre-orders with a
in stock. delivery time of two weeks. For our customers, this was
completely fine, and we were able to keep the fulfilment
As a company that is very active in social media marketing, volume in the warehouse at a strong pace. In addition,
extreme order peaks — often on weekends — pose a new carriers will be integrated for shipping abroad. “We
particular challenge for SNOCKS. “We have to deal with would like to open up new international markets and are
peaks,” explains Walter. “Thanks to Descartes pixi, we can currently looking at our possibilities here,” Bauer adds.
switch flexibly and quickly to a two-shift operation on “But every country has its own peculiarities, so we must
Monday and Tuesday so that we don’t lag in processing be well prepared to offer our excellent customer service
orders. Currently, 15 employees work at eight packing regardless of geography.” ••
stations during peak fulfilment periods, and since we don’t
have room for more packing stations, we organize ourselves
in shifts.” To provide a high level of customer service, there
is an important factor. Walter explains, “time is everything!
If order processing is slow, delivery times will be longer,
which means that our customer service department has Benefit Highlights
more to do fielding questions from dissatisfied customers • 100 % productivity increase in shipping. SNOCKS continually optimizes
on where orders are. Descartes pixi helps us to keep our processes and, since the introduction of Descartes pixi, productivity
customer promise of ‘short delivery times and top customer has doubled.
service.’ Without the solution, we would need twice as • Record: 39.000 shipments in one month with sometimes more than
much time to ship our 1,500 orders per day.” 3.000 orders per day.
• Over 90 % of all incoming orders are shipped on the same day!
With such a high, volatile order volume, it is crucial that • High stock accuracy – only 0.4 % picking error rate due to item image
picking is exceptionally accurate. Walter explains, “during and barcode-based processes
busy times, mistakes may occur; however, thanks to the
item image in the Descartes solution and the ability to Do you want to see Descartes E-commerce WMS in action?
track stock accurately, our error rate is only 0.4 %.” In Visit: https://ecommerce.descartes.com/solutions/warehouse-management/
addition to the image display, the company also keeps the

24