U.K. superstore Asda is building out its omnichannel capabilities with new order management capabilities from Blue Yonder and last-mile efficiency solutions from Bringg.
Asda had previously tasked Blue Yonder to transform its supply chain and retail operations, but it is now advancing those efforts by selecting the company’s Luminate Commerce solutions platform to modernize its order management capabilities. The inclusion of Bringg, which is a Blue Yonder technology alliance partner, ensures the entire omnichannel experience flows smoothly from end to end, including in the last mile.
An omnichannel future
“Omnichannel is at the heart of our strategy and customer proposition, where we want to provide a great customer experience and a seamless user journey. We have been extremely impressed by Blue Yonder’s order management microservices (OMS), which we will deploy across our grocery, clothing and general merchandise segments,” said Carl Dawson, chief information officer for Asda.
Asda’s business consists of supercenters, superstores and smaller supermarkets, as well as fueling stations and Asda Living stores that sell clothing and home merchandise. The company services more than 16 million customers in person through 640 stores and online each week. Asda delivers to 99% of the homes as well as to 538 click-and-collect sites across the U.K.
Watch: See Blue Yonder’s platform in action
Blue Yonder said its OMS allows Asda to:
- Process orders faster to improve the customer experience.
- Provide customers with real-time inventory visibility from the beginning of the shopping experience as well as pre-sourcing fulfillment options.
- Connect with the entire supply chain, considering the capacity to fulfill demand across any channel, at any time.
- Provide dynamic slotting options to the end customer for both home deliveries and pickup in store.
“Asda is leading a game-changing retail transformation focused on customer centricity, from first to last mile. We are very excited to extend our relationship with Asda into an area where we are connecting e-commerce with a true omnichannel landscape,” said Gael Ramaen, vice president of commerce for Blue Yonder.
Last-mile option
Bringg adds a last-mile component to the supply chain, allowing Asda to better serve its customers through support for Asda’s home delivery service, click-and-collect option, as well as new channels such as express commerce platforms.
“The challenges and complexities of faster, more convenient and on-demand order orchestration, delivery and fulfillment are grand,” said Nikolai Avrutov, vice president of alliances for Bringg. “In order to achieve game-changing capabilities on these fronts, retailers need their technology vendors to work closely together and to relentlessly raise the bar for its mutual customers through tight collaboration and strategic co-innovation.”
Bringg CEO Guy Bloch told Modern Shipper the project is a big win for the company. He noted that Blue Yonder combined with Bringg provides Asda the tools retailers need to succeed.
“We are joining forces with Blue Yonder to really make an impact,” he said. “If you think about it, to do the last mile and fulfillment really well, you have to do the back end really well.”
Click for more articles by Brian Straight.
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