One of the great aspects of Linn Academy is the breadth of the presentations and partners on tap covering just about every aspect of your business. Today we are highlighting the shipping and supply chain logistics sessions which are now available to view on demand.
With the final Brexit split coming at the end of the year, any merchant that ships between the EU and UK will need to review their carrier and supply chain arrangements. And, with no signs that the pandemic is going away any time soon, your entire shipping and supply chain will be under more pressure in Q4 than ever before.
Supply Chain
Tune in to hear from Danny McMillan Seller Sessions, Kian Golzari The NBA, and supply chain expert Steven Simonson, for a candid discussion around how the pandemic has hit supply chain resources and how major brands are navigating these challenges.
Diversification and making the most of close supplier relationships are two of the most important strategies for dealing with the challenges of supply chain resources as a result of COVID-19 according to the panel. This is a must watch session if you want to pandemic proof your stock sourcing.
“Initial supply chain problems were evident in January when China was first starting to shut down. By the time factories reopened ships were scarce and then a halt on movement of people followed. We had to pivot into a lot of different solutions.”
– Steven Simonson
Managing Peak
Krish Iyer, Head of Industry Relations and Strategic Partnerships at Shipstation, shares his best practises for managing the peak retail season in this session. He says that managing consumer expectation and experience around delivery and returns is going to be more important than ever for retailers this peak season and beyond.
“Your consumer is expecting overcommunication during this time. My recommendation is sell your products multichannel – using various carriers and multiple selling channels – but in addition communicate that delivery promise a lot more up front, both in the listing itself, in the checkout and post checkout as well.”
– Krish Iyer
Brexit deep dive
Rich and Marc Moore, co-founders of Source BMX walk through the challenges and opportunities Source BMX navigated through 2020 including preparations for Brexit, expansions into new markets and ensuring a resilient tech stack.
From 2003, Source BMX have grown to be the largest BMX retailer in the world. The business is still supported by a store, as well as a skate park although today they are more for marketing and PR purposes since online is where the growth is.
You’ll hear how business exploded in April as shoppers in lockdown turned to cycling for their exercise and the duo had to manage the additional demand while adjusting operations to comply with lockdown rules. Today the skatepark and store remain temporarily closed, but some changes will now be permanent.
“Our customer service team all work remotely. We have people working in different regions around the world, so we offer 24-hour customer service.”
– Marc Moore
To build its international business and cope with Brexit, a German warehouse has recently been opened in order to serve customers in the EU region.
“The only way for us to make it work with our business model and relatively small order size was either to be in the EU or lose all those sales altogether”
– Rich Moore
Watch the Linn Academy Marketplace sessions now
Unlike most years when you had to attend Linn Academy, as it was a virtual conference this year you can watch all of the Linn Academy Marketplace sessions on demand now. Click here to get started!
