Delivering in less than 30: Minding the minutes in dark store business

Although the dark store business model ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/setup-online-dark-store-ecommerce-business-consulting/ ) looks promising and tempting from a business perspective a big question every dealer has to answer is the strategy and modus operandi of fulfilling the promised delivery timeline. Because this has now become a pertinent issue, Your Retail Coach is presenting the essential strategic insights required to reduce the delivery time for dark stores. These insights are for providing guidance to startups and existing businesses contemplating starting a dark store business or improvising upon one. These are not any region-specific strategies - any business enterprise from any part of the world could take cues.

Location of dark stores: The importance of location for dark stores is no different from why it is for a brick-and-mortar store or a shopping mall. The idea is to stay closer to the markets and customers. The ideal location for any brick-and-mortar store is a prominent market area. It provides the convenience of visiting. In dark stores, the inventory needs to remain closer to the customers so that orders can be quickly delivered. This subtle difference between the two is a huge leap of thought in retailing. The ideal location of a dark store is within a two-mile radius of the areas that are densely populated with households. Anything more than that would likely take more than 30 minutes given today's urban traffic conditions.

Store Network: Discussed above was the location strategy for a single store. Building a network of stores helps achieve two important goals - market expansion and optimal resource utilisation. With one or two stores, order fulfilment during the rush hours becomes challenging. In high-demand areas, having multiple stores cut down the coverage area of each store. The burden on the delivery resource units is also reduced. The order fulfilment is less rushed with better quality of services. The Hub and Spoke expansion model is an advisable solution where one distribution centre acts as a central hub of replenishment for the network of stores in a region or city.

Shelf management: Because every minute matters in dark store business ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/setup-online-dark-store-ecommerce-business-consulting/ ), every small activity weighs in. The time required to pick up goods from the shelves is significantly lessened when shelves are appropriately labelled, fast-moving items are on the eye-level racks, easy pick up of goods kept in the upper racks is ensured, and SOPs are developed for both placing and picking up inventory. Products available in open quantities and sold in standard quantity sizes like fruits, vegetables, pulses, rice, etc. could be pre-packed in standard packaging sizes to save time.

Outbound process: The timer begins the moment an order is received at a dark store. Next, the pickup list is generated. The time required to pick up all the items could be brought down to the optimal level by following certain tactics. The pickup list (apart from item details) could list the items in the same sequence in which the inventories are stored in the racks/bins. The pickup trolley must have separate sections (e.g. frozen products, delicate items). This will reduce the unnecessary to and fro movement of the picker to ensure the safety of the products by the time of final delivery. The list should also mention the allotted time and to which counter it should be delivered. These standards have to be figured out with internal studies. Record and analyses of the identified errors and deviations are important for perpetual improvisation.

Last-Mile Delivery: The rule of thumb is to ensure that the delivery resource unit should be ready to pick up and deliver an order by about the time the order gets packed. For example, if the pick-up and packing time is 12 minutes, the delivery resource unit should be available in the store also in say 12 minutes. When an order is packed, the system should also allocate a suitable delivery resource unit. A checklist should be there for the delivery executives at the time of picking up an order. SOPs ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/standard-operating-procedures-consulting/ ) should be defined for the delivery team carrying out the last-mile delivery process.
Businesses should be careful when setting the timelines for their delivery executives. The delivery executives also need time to go to the nearest store to pick up the next order. Sometimes orders have to be delivered to the top-most floors of buildings and apartments. Apart from standard breaks like for lunch, necessary break time is also required between fulfilling two orders. These factors must be considered in setting the timelines.

About YRC

YRC is a retail and eCommerce business consulting ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/e-commerce-consulting/ ) brand with more than 10 years of experience and a budding international presence. The brand has consulted over 500 clients in more than 20 verticals. YRC deploys professional and experienced dark store consultants ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/setup-online-dark-store-ecommerce-business-consulting/ ) in service design and delivery.
For more information on how YRC can help your dark store business, please visit our website: www.yourretailcoach.in

YourRetailCoach
Pune, India-411016
Phone: +91-9860-426-700
Email: consult@mindamend.net
Empowering Retail & E-commerce businesses worldwide.

YRC is a Management Consulting Company, especially for the B-C Sector.

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This release was published on openPR.