JDA Software Group and IBM have partnered to provide joint solutions that help organisations deliver engaging customer experiences by intelligently processing and fulfilling product orders in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible.
IBM and JDA will provide an integrated omni-channel supply chain that enables businesses to make smarter sourcing decisions in real-time and give their customers the best buying experience possible.
“The JDA and IBM partnership fills a massive void in the marketplace,” says Wayne Usie, senior vice-president of retail at JDA Software.
“Retailers need to become much more sophisticated and intelligent about how they source product for omni-channel fulfilment. Today there is far too much guess work, too many static policies, and no intelligence applied to the process. This landmark initiative cracks the code on intelligent sourcing, simultaneously allowing our customers to factor in supply chain planning and execution status, planned events like promotions and markdowns, and labour availability at the point of sale to maximise profits and customer satisfaction.”
Retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers today are challenged to meet the demands of empowered consumers who demand the right product when they want it at the best price through their channel of choice.
Businesses are under increasing pressure to offer flexible options across more channels to meet customers’ expectations. Customers increasingly demand delivery options such as buy online and pick-up in store. Businesses are forced to make snap decisions based on static information resulting in inefficient fulfilment processes, shipping methods and inventory positions without dynamic views into their complete supply chain picture.
This new initiative between JDA and IBM will provide a holistic approach to solving this problem by synchronising comprehensive order capture and order management with precision retail planning, efficient labour productivity and intelligent fulfilment.
JDA Intelligent Fulfillment and Labor Productivity solutions combined with IBM Commerce and Order Management solutions will reveal the true cost of fulfilling an order – including inventory and labour costs – so that businesses can more responsively adjust inventory and resource allocations and execute decisions that meet and exceed customer expectations while also serving their bottom line.
The solution is expected to be available by late spring 2015 and will be delivered either on premise or in the cloud via SoftLayer, an IBM company.
For example, there are several dynamic factors at play that can affect the profitability of the transaction when a customer purchases an outfit online from a clothing retailer, such as: if the customer wants the outfit delivered to a home or will pick it up in store; if the item is in stock at that store or needs to be fulfilled from an alternate location; or if warehouse or store labour is available to fulfil the order in a timely manner.
These issues will be resolved in the background in real-time by applying knowledge of the retailer’s inventory planning and allocation during the order processing through the combined solutions from IBM and JDA. This allows the retailer to intelligently initiate the best possible omni-channel fulfilment decision at the moment of the sale in the most profitable manner.
“Whether they shop online, in store or on a device, consumers expect to have their product orders fulfilled exactly how they want it and at the lowest price without exceptions,” says Charles Chu, VP of B2B & Commerce at IBM.
“Any business that ignores these changing expectations does so at the expense of customer loyalty and revenue growth. Now with this partnership between JDA Software and IBM, businesses will be able to seamlessly orchestrate a superior order fulfilment process that provides real value to the customer while eliminating costs and inefficiencies.”
“By partnering to deliver this joint offering, JDA and IBM are enabling Lowe’s to deliver exceptional omni-channel fulfilment services, which gives our customers more flexible options to shop with us,” says Robin Bornkamp, Lowe’s VP of Inventory & Demand Planning.