ARMONK, N.Y., September 21, 2020 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced GEODIS has launched a new service that is designed to help retailers and consumer brands accelerate their omnichannel customer experience capabilities with a new e-commerce fulfillment service. The global, third-party logistics provider is integrating store and online fulfillment with warehousing and transportation services powered by IBM Sterling Order Management to help optimize demand management. The enhanced e-fulfillment network and improved proximity to online shoppers will help retailers evolve their supply chain resilience by simplifying unified order management orchestration capabilities across digital and physical store environments to grow sales.

Many retail and consumer brands face three common issues: not having a real-time, global view of inventory across fulfillment networks, limited fulfillment channel capabilities and not having full control over fulfillment processes to better manage operations that are affected by inventory levels. GEODIS’ e-Logistics fulfillment service is designed to help brands reduce costs and quickly reach e-commerce marketplaces and achieve success with shortened transit time by selecting the most effective fulfillment option to optimize delivery of customer orders. The new service enabled by IBM Sterling Order Management – a leading distributed order management system for retail as recognized by industry analyst, IHL Group – can provide a holistic view of available-to-promise inventory. This helps brands make more informed decisions on order sourcing and omnichannel execution, thereby improving the customer experience.

As retailers and consumer product brands constantly seek ways to delight their customer and react at speed to consumer behavior there’s a growing emphasis on selling directly to customers through a company’s own websites or online marketplaces. Compounding this challenge is many organizations frequently have inventory information in data silos rather than a holistic view, which can lead to inventory management issues that can result in lost sales opportunities from stock outs and markdowns.

“We’re seeing a growing trend of leading brands using stores as e-fulfillment and customer experience centers, bringing an incremental level of business complexity coupled with the need to master online sales. Without effective order management, order orchestration, and logistics management, efforts to sell across different channels – from brick-and-mortar stores to mobile phones – are bound to disappoint consumers,” said Ashwani Nath, Vice President & Global Head of e-Channel Solutions, GEODIS. “Brands seeking to accelerate their e-commerce operations can increase their e-commerce capabilities by making distribution networks more agile to better handle demand variability with the help of Sterling Order Management to confront formidable logistical hurdles.”

With the consumer market already reportedly experiencing much higher levels of tension due to the many ways COVID-19 has impacted the customer experience, the business risks associated with deficient customer fulfillment experience continues to grow. According to Forrester Research’s US Customer Experience Index 2020 report, the consequence of even small infractions can undercut efforts a brand makes to recapture customers once the consumer spending freeze thaws. For example, when customers are disappointed the report cited only 18 percent will keep their business with the brand, while just 18 percent will increase their spending with the brand, and a mere 15 percent will recommend the brand to their friends and family members.

“The consumer behavior associated with contactless commerce and the desire for fulfillment flexibility has challenged retailers and brand owners to accelerate their omnichannel capabilities, which is driving them to align their commerce and fulfillment platforms in order to meet evolving consumer demands,” said Jeanette Barlow, VP of Offering Management - IBM Sterling. “As we continue to emerge with new insights, we’re seeing leading brands modernize their critical supply chain applications such as Order Management to gain deeper analytics that help improve business performance and put an emphasis on managing their inventory at a holistic level – no longer siloed by channel or location. We think this trend will continue to grow as companies innovate and increase their competitiveness by building intelligent supply chains that are tuned to the demands of the specific needs of each business to optimize performance.”

About GEODIS

GEODIS is a top-rated, global supply chain operator recognized for its commitment to helping clients overcome their logistical constraints. GEODIS’ growth-focused offerings (Supply Chain Optimization, Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express, and Road Transport) coupled with the company’s truly global reach thanks to a direct presence in 67 countries, and a global network spanning 120 countries, translates in top business rankings, #1 in France, #6 in Europe and #7 worldwide. In 2019, GEODIS accounted for over 41,000 employees globally and generated €8.2 billion in sales. Learn more at www.geodis.com

About IBM Sterling Supply Chain
IBM Sterling Supply Chain solutions empower IT and supply chain professionals with greater visibility, transparency and trust to proactively predict and mitigate disruption, improve B2B information flow, and optimize inventory utilization and fulfillment. Learn how our AI- and blockchain-enabled solutions help you build an intelligent, self-correcting supply chain at www.ibm.com/supply-chain.

Media Contacts:

Erik Mason
External Communications – IBM Sterling Supply Chain
erik.mason@ibm.com
508-208-6617