How ORP Improves Last Mile Sustainability

See how Wolfpack’s Omnichannel Retail Platform (ORP) improves last mile sustainability and boosts efficiency all at the same time.

Efficiency and sustainability are no longer mutually exclusive. In fact, with the right tech in place, your retail operation can become more efficient and more sustainable at the same time.

Last mile sustainability is one area where many businesses stand to make real gains – if they tackle it the right way. Let us show you how our Omnichannel Retail Platform (ORP) makes that, and a whole lot more, possible.

Understanding The Last Mile

The last mile refers to the final step in the delivery process, where goods are transported from a distribution hub to the end customer. This stage is often the most complex and costly part of the delivery chain. However, because of that complexity and cost, it's also where the most substantial environmental gains can be made.

Most businesses want to become more sustainable for a few key reasons, most notably, that it can often result in lower costs and also because it’s a very positive step from a brand perspective. With customers becoming more discerning about where they spend their money, that’s a big deal.

Green Miles

Better orchestration of order and inventory flows can significantly impact environmental sustainability. Take return forms, for example. A major Dutch retailer we worked with found that 20% of their orders resulted in returns, as their customers love to test the products out and send them back if they don’t fit the bill.

This meant that 80% of return forms included in packages went unused, which led us to consider simpler, more eco-friendly solutions like paperless shipping. Using ORP, this retailer now prints a QR code on every box that gets sent out – directing customers to a 'my account' page for returns – reducing paper waste and enhancing the customer experience.

Transportation logistics have a greater environmental impact than paper usage – obviously. By minimizing transport movements, retailers can save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions. This is especially important in omnichannel sales, with potentially hundreds of inventory locations.

ORP enables retailers to offer options like click and collect, reducing internal and external transport movements and giving customers more choices. For example, instead of delivering orders in multiple packages from different locations, our system identifies the best single location to fulfill the order, thereby reducing shipments.

Urban warehousing, where physical stores also serve as inventory locations, is another area where our ORP shines. By matching store inventories and using the most stocked location to fulfill orders, we help retailers significantly cut down on both packaging and transport. This also makes pickup in-store more efficient, as items often already available in the store no longer need to be transported from a central warehouse – giving the customer a product faster than would be possible with traditional warehousing.

Optimizing last mile delivery opens up creative ways to further green logistics. For instance, some stores use Bringly, a service that employs bike couriers and electric vehicles. ORP can manage these deliveries by selecting bike couriers for nearby addresses, automatically choosing the greenest option. We’re really just scratching the surface of its potential, so the ceiling for making improvements in efficiency and sustainability with ORP is nowhere in sight.

Opportunities for sustainability are everywhere if retailers are open to seeing them. But outdated thinking about the cost of sustainability often holds them back. Wolfpack’s ORP offers unparalleled order management and product channel management that make omnichannel operators’ lives easier through massive leaps in efficiency. All that and the sustainability options that stem from it make ORP the go-to platform for retailers that want to do better.

We believe in harnessing the power of modern technology to make a lasting, positive impact on the environment. If sustainability and efficiency are on your agenda, contact Wolfpack today.