Flexibility crucial for warehouse management tech, expert says

Global e-commerce sales are projected to reach $6.09 trillion in 2024, an 8.4% increase from $5.62 trillion in 2023, according to Shopify. This marks a transformative shift, as businesses and consumers adopted digital-first behaviors rapidly during the pandemic, compressing a decade of digital adoption into just a few years.

Smitha Raphael, chief product and delivery officer at warehouse management platform SnapFulfil, said in an interview that 2024 has seen a major influx of requests from business-to-consumer and 3PL clients looking to rapidly expand online operations.

One key trend is the need for greater flexibility and integration capabilities in warehouse management systems (WMS). Customers are no longer satisfied with a one-size-fits-all approach and are seeking WMS solutions that can seamlessly connect to their existing enterprise resource planning systems, order management systems, and a variety of sales channels and carrier integrations.

“When these companies look into automating their system, they want to make sure they’re selecting a WMS that has no restrictions,” Raphael explained.

She noted that this agnostic approach to integration has been a major selling point, as customers look for a system that can be easily and quickly integrated. Flexibility is especially crucial for 3PLs, which need to onboard new clients with diverse technology stacks.

“This flexibility is becoming very important for third-party logistics companies because anytime they bring on a new customer, they need integrations to happen overnight to win that business,” she said.

The rapid expansion of e-commerce operations has also led to the need for scalable, multisite warehouse management. Customers are no longer content with a single fulfillment center and are instead looking to quickly spin up new locations to meet growing demand. WMS providers that can facilitate this type of rapid growth and seamless integration across multiple sites are in high demand.

Finally, Raphael told FreightWaves that customers are increasingly seeking WMS providers that can not only deliver a robust platform but also serve as a hub for integrating complementary solutions, such as transportation management systems, order source integrations and carrier services.

She said it is important for B2C companies and 3PLs to have an open dialogue with system providers about future integrations they hope to implement or what current partners they are working with in order to get the most out of their solutions.

These conversations are especially critical, Raphael emphasized, as more sophisticated technologies become available in the near future.

“We are seeing more interest in picking automation like [autonomous mobile robots] … and packing solutions for those that want custom boxing but can’t afford a whole custom box building machine. … Interest is growing for automation, not just for the sake of labor, but for where it adds value,” she said.