It’s not a problem that makes the headlines, but does leave consumers quietly frustrated, even seething, and that’s not being able to collect almost immediately what they just purchased online; again, it’s that tension between bricks and mortar and eCommerce.
Essentially, a consumer orders a product through the brand’s website (particularly when a brand is running a campaign for the product) with the intent of collecting it locally, only for the retailer to say they don’t have stock because the brand or manufacturer does not have visibility of the retailer’s stock levels.
Research by Radial (logistics and fulfilment) found that real-time inventory visibility is key to orchestrating orders and customer satisfaction at scale, while the Forbes Tech Council highlighted that real-time item-level visibility and automation reduce inventory costs, improve service levels (forbes.com). These are often large retailers. But manufacturers who sell through independent dealers face the same challenge.
In the context of the brand-to-reseller model, the problem takes on added complexity. Retailers set their own stock levels which they may report to the manufacturer or they may not. Without centralised data exchange, the manufacturer operates blind, which frustrates consumers
The friction has a cost. SupplyChainDive found that ‘live’ stock tracking can reduce split shipments and cross-zone costs (retailwire.com). However, manufacturers running brand-first websites gain little from a direct sale if the customer then fails to collect (foot traffic is lost and support opportunities disappear and resellers miss out too).
This is not a new issue. Even though scan-based trading models use item sale data to settle accounts after a sale (en.wikipedia.org), and RFID tags can offer live location tracking right down to the item (forbes.com), there are challenges. In particular, connecting these data flows across independent systems in a way that respects each party’s autonomy.
Integration can help solve the problem because a manufacturer website can query retailer stock feeds by SKU and location. That feed can trigger order routing to the appropriate store.
Reverse logistics systems then replenish store stock automatically so that orders are placed centrally but fulfilled locally (payment follows the same path). The retailer receives their margin and the customer gets what they ordered. The brand completes the first part of their promise.
Localised fulfilment also reduces freight costs. Bulk shipments become store replenishment instead of parcel fulfilment, which moderates costs and supports more sustainable operations.
This topic has had coverage in the wholesale and retail technology press, but few have framed the issue through the lens of brand-direct eCommerce and independent resellers (I see a gap in the narrative).
We can show how the plumbing — the integrations, the stock feeds, the trigger logic — makes the brand-to-store model work and we can mark the shift from manual phone calls to automatic routing.
In New Zealand and Australia, we already have brands testing this model:
- A manufacturer takes orders through its site then pushes fulfilment to dealers.
- Stock feeds sync daily or hourly.
- Payments settle via the dealer’s purchase arrangements.
The model succeeds when the stock visibility plumbing works.