Why an ERP with Built-In WMS Functionality Is Essential for Direct-to-Consumer Shipping

Retail growth is all about direct-to-consumer (DTC). There’s no other way to say it. And the changing shopping habits and trends resulting from COVID-19 have only exacerbated this idea.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, DTC has become more popular than ever before. Fewer customers are willing to leave their homes to pick up products and goods, so they opt for online ordering and home delivery. And they want whatever they’re ordering as soon as possible.

But let’s go back just a bit.

Before the inception of DTC, consumer goods importers had to ship and fulfill orders to retailers, often using full cartons or pallets, and the retailers would take care of the rest. It was a relatively simple and straightforward process.

DTC means that products are shipped directly to consumers rather than leveraging a third-party retailer to help with the distribution process. As a result, importers and distributors using this new fulfillment model require a different warehouse.

But with DTC, it’s all a bit more complicated. For example, picking and shipping a single-parcel order requires greater warehouse management functionality within more robust technology.

Ideally, you’d have an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to help you manage all your DTC orders and fulfillment requirements. With an ERP, you can manage departments and processes. But not all ERP solutions offer the kind of functionality and operational visibility necessary for effective warehouse management.

This means, to fully satisfy your requirements, you need to purchase an additional solution—usually a warehouse management system (WMS). While you want these two complementary solutions to talk with each other and share data and information seamlessly, the integration process can be costly and time-consuming.

While you want these two complementary solutions to talk with each other and share data and information seamlessly, the integration process can be costly and time-consuming.

But, what if there was a way you could combine the power of both of these systems and remove the need for that integration? Enter industry-specific ERP with a built-in warehouse management solution (WMS).

With such a solution, you combine the power of an ERP to grant you the visibility and analytics you need with the warehousing functionality that makes managing the complexity of your business that much easier.

Whether you operate from your warehouses or utilize a third-party logistics space, a WMS built into an ERP enables real-time visibility and helps you manage your most demanding receiving, putaway and picking tasks for maximum supply chain performance.

With built-in warehouse management functionality, you’re able to:

• Speed up receiving and optimize space management with directed putaway capabilities

• Count products during the unloading process at the receiving dock using handheld devices

• Maximize picking and packing efficiencies with integrated pre-pack and cartonization rules

• Easily manage and validate returns and reorders with lot and serial tracking.

If you’re looking for an ERP with WMS capabilities to help you manage all of these processes, our solution offers everything you need and then some. Aptean Distribution ERP is flexible enough to enable picking according to your business’s rules while also keeping up-to-date with the challenges and changes within the industry itself.

Our built-in warehouse management capabilities mean wave picking can be defined by product, order type and size, customer, shipper and fleet route. You get end-to-end visibility. You get control. You get inventory accuracy. You get efficiency.

Our integrated WMS includes all the tools you need to manage your complex operations today and in the future. You can:

• Improve inventory accuracy

• Gain real-time visibility of your supply chain

• Grow inventory transparency

• Maximize resources, inventory, people and warehouse space

• Reduce chargebacks, fines and shipping errors

Ready to master the art of DTC? Ready to learn more about how Aptean Distribution ERP can serve you and your consumer goods enterprise? Find out how, now.