Offer flexible pickup and delivery options
Authors:
Michael Wholohan, Holger Lierse
Changed on:
17 Nov 2025
Problem
Modern consumers expect flexible fulfilment options like;
- Buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS)/ Click & Collect
- Curb-side pickup
- Locker Collection
- Same-day delivery
- Ship from Store
However, enabling these requires real-time inventory visibility, intelligent order routing, and real-time integration across store systems, warehouses, and carriers.
Without this infrastructure, retailers are limited to basic ship-from-warehouse fulfilment. This results in lost sales to competitors offering more convenient options, reduced customer satisfaction, and an inability to leverage store inventory to improve delivery speed and reduce shipping costs."
Example
A regional sporting goods retailer with 80 stores and an established e-commerce presence was fulfilling all their online orders from the DC/Warehouse. They were not able to offer any convenient store fulfilment options such as store pickup, curb-side collection, or ship-from-store options.
This was having a huge impact on their fulfilment operations and general profitability, for example;
- Inability to promise or sell any in-store inventory, impacting online availability and conversion rates.
- By not offering convenient pickup or delivery options, even when items were available at nearby stores, this was resulting in unnecessary shipping costs averaging $8-12 per order and 5-7 day delivery times.
- This was also driving increased inventory handling costs for stores who were holding slow-moving inventory that could have been used to fulfil online demand, leading to markdowns and lost sales opportunities.
- As competition was increasing for improved convenience and availability, particularly through Click & Collect and same-day delivery offerings, general site traffic was declining resulting in lost revenue opportunities.
Customer expectations for flexible fulfilment options continues to rise, this retailer needed to invest in better Order Management capabilities.
Solution Overview
The Fluent Order Management System (OMS) provides the necessary infrastructure to centralise inventory, intelligently route orders, and orchestrate complex fulfilment processes, enabling retailers to offer the expected range of flexible pickup and delivery options such as;
- Buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS)/ Click & Collect
- Curb-side pickup
- Locker Collection
- Same-day delivery
- Ship from Store
- Among others...
Fluent Order Management enables this level of flexible fulfilment through several core capabilities.
- Real-Time Inventory Visibility is provided through the Fluent Unified View of Inventory Interface, which delivers a single, unified view of stock across all locations: stores, warehouses, and in-transit inventory in real-time. This allows the retailer to aggregaret, promise and sell all available stock, regardless of its location, significantly boosting online product availability and conversion rates.
- Intelligent Order Sourcing utilises sophisticated fulfilment logic to route orders based on configurable rules such as proximity to the customer, store capacity, profitability, or delivery speed requirements. This ensures the optimal, most cost-effective fulfilment location is always chosen, minimising shipping costs and maximising speed to customer.
- Store Fulfilment capability, powered by the Fluent Store application, empowers store associates to quickly and efficiently execute store-based fulfilment methods including; Click & Collect, Curb-side Pickup, and Ship-from-Store. This critical function turns the physical store network into a distributed warehouse, utilising store inventory to meet online demands.
- The API-first architecture facilitates rapid, real-time Integration and Orchestration with existing systems and carrier networks, while the Fluent Order Orchestration module allows for low-code configuration of complex workflows. This provides the agility to quickly introduce new fulfilment options and ensures seamless communication across the entire supply chain.
By implementing Fluent OMS, the retailer can transition from a basic ship-from-warehouse model to a customer-centric, multi-node fulfilment operation. The benefits include;
- Increased Revenue: Selling in-store inventory online dramatically increases product availability and conversion, while offering convenient options like BOPIS attracts customers and drives increased foot traffic.
- Reduced Costs: Intelligent routing priorities fulfilment from the closest, most cost-effective location (often a local store), drastically reducing average shipping costs and delivery times.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Customers receive their orders faster and have the power to choose the most convenient method, whether it’s picking up at the curb, collecting in-store, or receiving a same-day delivery. This meets modern expectations and improves satisfaction.
Solution
Responsive Sourcing Framework Overview
The Responsive Sourcing Framework is a configurable, scalable alternative to custom Workflows and Rules for managing sourcing strategies. You’ll learn how to define and optimize sourcing logic using Sourcing Profiles, Strategies, Conditions, and Criteria. The Framework empowers both technical and business users with faster implementation, greater control, and transparency into how sourcing decisions are made and why.
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