Macy's online shipping from stores not warehouses

peachesncream — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:40:17 GMT

I found an interesting article online titled Macy's Warehouse at the Mall. It references a Wall Street Journal article explaining that Macy's has a new strategy for online sales. It will ship as much merchandise as possible from stores, not warehouses.

Macy's stated they will never build a warehouse distribution center (for online sales) again. This strategy saves them money; they no longer have to discount merchandise that's not moving if someone, somewhere, will buy it.

"...if stores have too much of an item, the excess can be shifted to the website, where it might be selling better and at full price. Likewise, out-of-stock items won't disappear from Macy's website if they can be found in a physical store. Online orders will be filled by stores closest to consumers, saving time and money on shipping."

I found this article through a Google search, because I was frustrated with recent purchases from Macy's online, and my email to them got no answer or response.

All four of my last four online purchases have shipped from stores; three had to be returned to the local store. A pair of sandals had black scuff mark on the tops (how does that happen?), another pair were obviously stretched out from being tried on many times and were tossed into box with no padding & crushed a bit in transit. Crop pants: pulled threads in material, on front of pants.

I'm not liking this new strategy of shipping from stores. It seems the clothing is not being looked at for flaws, and is being packaged carelessly.

One of the attractions of online shopping, for me, is getting pristine merchandise (often I open the package and wear the item right away).

"...the article describes the challenges of fulfilling orders from a store. It is distinctly more challenging to find the right style in the right color in the right size out on the store floor as opposed to in a warehouse. The labor cost to pick and packhave to swamp whatever shipping savings are. Said another way, without better overall inventory management, this idea is dead in the water."

I would say, without customer satisfaction and acceptance, this idea is a losing one.

This past weekend, I ended up ordering skimmer pants from Talbot's and a pair of sandals from shoebuy.com. I feel more confident about their ability to ship new merchandise.

I'll still shop Macy's in the mall, where I can see and judge the merchandise. I'm taking a time out from online purchases, though.

topic Macy's online shipping from stores not warehouses in Fashion

Macy's online shipping from stores not warehouses