Order fulfillment is critical lever to improve customer experience, Saddle Creek says

In the push to improve customer experience, many retailers, manufacturers and e-commerce companies are increasingly looking to order fulfillment as a critical tool, according to a survey from Florida-based third-party logistics services provider (3PL) Saddle Creek Logistics Services.

The finding comes from a study called “Fulfillment Trends Shaping the Future of Customer Experience,” which is based on an online survey of 150 industry professionals conducted in partnership with StudioID.

Those results show that in the past year, more than half of respondents have added or upgraded a warehouse management system (WMS) (59%) and/or order management system (OMS) (52%) to improve customer experience while 45% have implemented a warehouse execution system (WES). Investments in fulfillment operations over the next 12 to 18 months will focus on robotics and automation, as well as process improvement (43%), the survey showed.

“To deliver a memorable customer experience, you need high-performing fulfillment operations,” Brian Mattingly, regional vice president, operations, at Saddle Creek, said in a release. “More companies are recognizing that order fulfillment can be a competitive differentiator. They’re focusing on fine-tuning their operations to improve product availability, provide more responsive service, offer a variety of shipping options, and more.”