Dive Brief:
- Ware2Go, a UPS-backed on-demand warehousing company, is partnering with Google to offer shippers the ability to add "Free & Fast" shipping labels to their product listings when they appear in Google Ads or Google Shopping, according to an announcement Thursday.
- Based on a prospective customer's ZIP code, their proximity to nodes in Ware2Go's fulfillment network and real-time inventory availability, Google will automatically note on the shipper's product page whether an item is available for free one- or two-day shipping.
- Ware2Go will offer the labels through the Google partnership with its existing services at no additional cost, according to a press release. Initial data from participating merchants found they saw a "7% increase in [sales] conversions, a 10% increase in conversions per dollar, and a 9% overall conversion rate," as a result of the integration, according to Ware2Go.
Dive Insight:
Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce demand has been nearly doubling on a month-to-month basis compared to the same period last year. With consumers working from home and traditional retail limited by pandemic procedures restrictions, experts predict this elevated level of e-commerce volume could be here to stay.
"A lot of our customers who relied on traditional sales channels struggled early on because they didn’t have fully optimized digital channels," Ware2Go’s CEO Steve Denton said in a company blog post. "Those that did have fully optimized digital channels were able to make that shift quicker."
The partnership with Google is intended to connect inventory management to what the customer sees in the marketplace. "Our goal is to provide greater visibility into the top- and bottom-line impact of optimizing fulfillment strategies," Denton said.
Merchants should cluster their inventory across various key marketplaces and while eliminating slow-moving SKU's that take up warehouse space and bog down throughput, he said.
For Ware2Go's part, Denton said the company is "inbounding inventory directly into distribution warehouses in order to rapidly fill orders that were delayed due to inventory challenges and providing pre-peak storage for arriving inventory," noting the company has maintained 99% on-time fulfillment during the pandemic.
For shippers looking to stay competitive in the e-commerce space, better connecting online stores with fulfillment centers and logistics networks could be key to avoiding stock-outs and sluggish fulfillment rates. For instance, Joann partnered with IBM Sterling to revamp its OMS to recover from disruptions stemming from store closures, spiking online sales and an uptick in curbside pickup.