Personalization in retail is growing exponentially, and with it, subscription commerce. Though subcom remains relatively fresh – with 47 percent of all subcom offerings launching in the last 12 months according to a recent SUBTA survey – it has taken the retail industry by storm, and many predict a strong future ahead.
But as more and more companies adopt a curated subscription service, the warehouse can often feel the brunt of these growing pains. A growing customer base leads to many challenges surrounding demand forecasting, shipping accuracy and timeliness, and many warehouses struggle to keep up.
That’s where a best-of-breed warehouse management system (WMS) can help. A WMS can help you prepare for growth by eliminating the need for legacy pen and paper processes to optimize your warehouse. It can also give you deeper visibility into inventory management and individual picking and packing processes to ensure products are shipping accurately and on time.
But don’t just take our word for it. As harvest arrives in full-force for the wine industry, examine the ways a WMS helped Winc manage its ripening wine subscription services.
The art of wine is ancient – but your WMS shouldn’t be
As Winc began to take the subcom and wine industries by storm, with its down-to-earth approach and desire to help customers find and enjoy wine, it began to feel the challenges of its expanding business.
It soon realized its paper-based warehouse management system was no longer going to fulfill increasing consumer demands. With so much growth, Winc started to experience operational inaccuracies and inefficiencies, making it a challenge to keep up with required volume through its DC.
Enter: a robust, Tier 1 cloud WMS. In only eight weeks, Snapfulfil and Winc had implemented the system without any disruption to Winc’s fulfillment operations.
With this new warehouse management system, Winc was able to lower cost per order by $0.05 by eliminating paper tickets, reduce error rates by 5 percent because of superior inventory control and deeper visibility, and drive operations efficiencies enough to stay in the same facility, saving an estimated $150,000.
As Winc continues to rapidly expand, growing over 800 percent since 2014, it now has a WMS that can adapt and scale with the company – without breaking the bank. Winc provides old and new wine lovers with flexible, customizable wine options to fit their desires – and a flexible, scalable warehouse management system helps make it a reality.
