Unlike traditional warehouse spaces, retail storefronts are generally cheaper and located closer to potential customers enabling faster delivery times and lowered TCO. In doing so, faster delivery can help increase team productivity, enhance competitiveness, strengthen brand identity, and even double year-over-year sales. However, despite these benefits, the challenges of effective order fulfillment persist in the converted storefront. As more and more retailers make the switch, businesses now find themselves in a unique opportunity to mitigate issues before they arise.

How to prevent the top 3 order fulfillment issues from entering the new storefront:

To help businesses make the most of their new storefront space, Bar Code Direct and Zebra Technologies explore the common warehousing issues transitioning into retail.

1. Maintaining accurate inventory management for incoming shipments – Research has shown that traditional store inventory is about 70% Lack of inventory visibility can lead to product shrinkage, misplacements, and longer pick routes as workers struggle to find products. To resolve this issue, real-time visibility solutions such as Zebra’s RFID locationing devices work alongside your workforce to track in-motion inventory, providing a 99.99% accuracy rate in your inventory management system. Simply tag incoming items as they arrive to the receiving dock and track them via your RFID handheld manage movement, storage, and any incoming updates for less surprises.
2. Preventing backorders and out-of-stocks – Backorder costs can reach as high as $20 per order, and that doesn’t factor in the incalculable cost of a negative customer experience. To prevent out-of-stocks, stock counts must be readily updated and visible to your team before dropping below a set threshold. Technologies like modern touch computers provide a cost-effective connectivity solution as workers are able to seamlessly update stock counts with streamlined data capture and processing through one device.
3. Simplifying reverse logistics for seamless returns – Inconvenient returns discourage at over half of shoppers from completing a purchase. In addition to locationing and sustained connectivity, businesses have also turned to wearable and hands-free technologies in order to accelerate processing while preserving scanning accuracy, worker comfort, and affordability. Furthermore, hands-free order processing is relatively easy to use, eliminating worker confusion for faster deployment and optimization. This allows your team to quickly process returns and lower instances of wasted labor as items are stored properly.

For more information on how to tackle the challenges of post-pandemic retail, contact Bar Code Direct for a careful assessment of your current workflows to pinpoint optimization opportunities in your operations.

The post Converting the storefront to a fulfillment center? Keep these tips in mind. appeared first on Bar Code Direct - Barcode Solutions.

• Industrial vs. Mobile: Industrial printers are designed for, well, industrial environments. Down and dirty spaces require a printer that can sustain a fair amount of wear and tear. These models stay in one place and print thousands of labels a day. Mobile printers, on the other hand, are not designed for the same volume. Depending on your business needs, a mix of industrial and mobile printers may be your best solution.
• Direct Thermal vs. Thermal Transfer: With barcode printers, you have two types of label options. Direct thermal labels are best for short-term application, as they do not maintain well in heat or sunlight. Thermal transfer labels last longer and are more durable, but cost more.
• Wireless Communications: How you plan on communicating with your printer (hard-wired vs WiFi-enabled) will help determine the best solution for your needs.
• Volume: Will you be printing thousands of labels per day or a handful per hour?
• Features: What add-ons does your printer need? Peeler, Roll Rewind, Cutter, Wireless, Remote Management—all serve a purpose and may be beneficial to your business.

ZEBRA ZT PRINTER COMPARISON

Zebra’s ZT line is the gold standard of industrial printers, built to withstand the most demanding environments. To help you select the best model for your business, our efficiency experts tested each series below, ranking them from starter to premium. Have a look:

• ZT200 Series: ZT200’s compact design makes it ideal for constrained work areas. The entry-level printer boasts an effortless setup, intuitive user operation, and ease of maintenance. Because of its size, it cannot produce the same volume of labels as other ZT models. However, ZT200 is a solid choice for a beginner bar code operation.
• ZT400 Series: ZT400 are our most popular printers, and for good reason—the mid-range models are built to last. The ZT411 was born out of Zebra’s extensive research on customer pain points, making it more user friendly than previous generations. Both ZT411 and ZT421 are designed for small spaces, but with a tolerance for higher speeds and resolutions. Increased processing power and grow-as-you-go features include RFID and media capabilities, plus Link-OS compatibility. These printers are made for small-label applications.
• ZT510: This premium printer is designed for high-volume output within the most challenging industrial environments. The model can operate 24/7, making it ideal for companies who need a workhorse printer without a premium price tag.
• ZT600 Series: If your business requires a high volume of labels and a high tolerance for industrial surroundings, the ZT600 is your best match. Precise registration and print line adjustment allow for labels as small as 3mm {think circuit boards and chips}. What’s more, compatibility with other printing systems makes for simplified integration and management within your barcode ecosystem.

ZEBRA ZQ MOBILE PRINTER COMPARISON

• ZQ600 Mobile Printers: Improve inventory management and customer service in your store with the ZQ600 Series mobile printer. Taking the popular QLn Series and making it even better, the ZQ600 Series delivers advanced technology and an innovative and portable design that drives productivity, ease-of-use and manageability to a new level.
• ZQ600 Healthcare Series Mobile: With the ZQ600 Healthcare Series mobile printers you can improve accuracy, patient safety and staff productivity by completing specimen labeling at the point of care. Building on the popular QLn Healthcare Series, the ZQ600 Healthcare Series is designed specifically for healthcare to withstand constant disinfecting and delivers advanced technology in an innovative and portable design that drives productivity, ease-of-use and manageability to a new level.
• ZQ630 RFID Mobile Printer: Print and encode RFID tags and labels when and where you need them. Premium features, advanced technology, industry-leading battery and innovative design—now with RFID. This mobile printer drives productivity, ease-of-use and manageability to a new level.
• ZQ300 Series Mobile Printers:With class-leading battery power, versatility, durability and easy remote management at an affordable price, the ZQ300 Series mobile printer comes in two designs to meet your business needs.
• ZQ110 Mobile Printer: Print receipts and tickets on demand and on the go with the ZQ110 mobile 2-inch receipt printer. As Zebra’s smallest and most affordable mobile receipt printer, the ZQ110 is equipped with key basic features and offers a selection of competitive accessories.

ZEBRA ZD DESKTOP PRINTER COMPARISON

• ZD510-HC Wristband Printing Solution: The ZD510-HC Wristband Printing Solution combines the reliable ZD510-HC direct thermal printer with easy-to-load cartridges containing the only antimicrobial-coated wristbands on the market – Zebra’s Z-Band® wristbands. Also capable of printing wristbands for amusement, water-park and entertainment applications, you get dependable wristband printing that increases patient safety and staff productivity.
• ZD620 Series Desktop Printers: When print quality, productivity, application flexibility and management simplicity matter, the ZD620 Series delivers. Available in both direct thermal and thermal transfer models, the ZD620 desktop printer advances the legacy of the industry-leading GX Series printers. These premium models bring advanced industrial printing quality to a compact desktop printer — offering the fastest print speeds, print quality and manageability in its class.
• ZD420 Series Desktop Printers: Building on the legacy of the industry-leading GK Series printers, the ZD420 Series delivers features and functionality that take deployment and management simplicity, ease-of-use and application flexibility and total cost of ownership to a new level. The ZD420 desktop printer is available in both direct thermal and thermal transfer models. And, the ZD420 ribbon cartridge version is the easiest thermal transfer printer to load, period.

Your business is unique, and so are your printing needs. At Bar Code Direct we’ll evaluate your current system, and customize a more efficient printing solution.

Email us at printingsolutions@barcodedirect.com for FREE Printer evaluation or call us at 1.800.343.1750.

The post Bar Code Direct & Zebra’s Printer Comparison Guide 2021 appeared first on Bar Code Direct - Barcode Solutions.

Help a start-up E-Grocer compete in the volatile Online grocery category. Many stores rely on labor-intensive methods to complete Online orders. Without a traditional brick and mortar footprint, or the reach of a competitor like Amazon, the start-up needed an innovative, cost-effective, and contactless way to fulfill orders. 

THE SOLUTION: 

The E-Grocer built a collection of automated micro fulfillment centers where most work was completed through robotics. However since some critical picking needed to be done manually, we created a custom solution that included arm-mounted Android mobile computers integrated with ring scanners. This allowed the manual process to be fast and efficient, which kept costs down and allowed the start-up to compete with established services 

THE TOOLS:

ZEBRA TC25 Handheld Units 

Wearable Barcode Scanner

Custom Arm Mount Holder 

SOTI – Enterprise Mobile Device Management

Lifecycle & Asset Management

“We worked closely with this innovative start-up from their inception to ensure their picking tools were the perfect fit for their processes. Their growth has been remarkable, and they are working with the largest names in the grocery business.”

PETE GRIMES
VP Marketing & Sales
BAR CODE DIRECT

The post E-GROCER STARTUP appeared first on Bar Code Direct - Barcode Solutions.