How hyperlocalisation is transforming eCommerce

Selazar was recently featured in Raconteur, and CEO Jack Williams contributed his thoughts on the Future of eCommerce and hyperlocalisation.

In the article, he discusses how local fulfilment paired with employing digital technology help to optimise warehouse operations, along with the availability of asset-based financing all drive eCommerce forwards.

 

Local fulfilment, employing digital technology to optimise warehouse operations and the availability of asset-based financing all drive ecommerce forwards, says Jack Williams, CEO of Selazar

The growth in eCommerce since the Covid-19 pandemic has proven just how much consumers value convenience. Same and next-day delivery is now an expectation of an online order rather than a premium that customers are willing to pay for. Today’s demand for consumers and companies to be as sustainable as possible is a significant catalyst for change within the global supply chain, especially
for that important ‘last mile’.

 

Hyperlocalisation

Hyperlocalisation is the strategic spread of stock across a localised network of hubs, bringing businesses closer to their customers with fulfilment centres, delivery locations and collection points tailored to their regional markets. This drives businesses to leverage warehousing to their advantage, enabling them to reach as many customers as they can in the shortest possible time. Spreading stock across a wide network is becoming the desired goal, and this doesn’t – as many companies believe – mean they must hold a high amount of stock in each location to be able to fulfil same-day delivery expectations.

In fact, through intelligent technology, a whole range of efficiencies can be gained to make the process more cost-effective with a lower environmental impact. This is to be welcomed at a time when economic headwinds look set to impact bottom lines. As inflation rises, fuel costs increase, and business spending cutbacks are universal, getting much more from much less becomes a commercial imperative. Two strands here connect for the greatest success: hyperlocalisation and warehouse virtualisation. They go hand in hand. Hyperlocal operations facilitate same-day delivery next-day delivery expectations and support efficient local returns. What’s more, the shift towards localised stock distribution has far less of an impact on the wider environment.

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For example, there is no need to use big diesel-laden lorries when orders can be sent by bike carriers or electric vehicles. Retailers know their customers want hyperlocalisation. Who wouldn’t like to receive their order fast, whether that’s first thing the following day or within hours of making a transaction online? In the US, micro-hubs have become a necessity due to the country’s vast geography.

 

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In the UK, they can be employed strategically to enhance customer experience. Hyperlocalisation is a boost for UK exports. For most companies today, competing solely on price is no longer an option. Instead, retailers of all shapes and sizes are turning to customer experience as their key differentiator – and fast delivery times are a significant factor in ensuring that it is a positive one. At Selazar, we plan to offer same-day delivery in 15 cities across the UK from our warehouses later this year through a network of micro-hubs. Not only does this benefit our clients’ last mile, but it also helps them meet environmental and sustainability CSR targets. We aim to achieve this in the US, South America and Europe too.

 

Growth-oriented businesses need the ability to expand their customer base into overseas markets to increase their turnover and boost profitability – this is especially the case for smaller and more regional brands.

 

If you are a cosmetics company in the UK wanting to sell to Latin America, it shouldn’t take three weeks to ship your product there to a customer’s home. It also shouldn’t take the same time – or longer – for that customer to return it. According to Shopify, 32% of consumers have abandoned a purchase due to estimated shipping times being too long (37% in North America). That is why hyperlocalisation is a huge opportunity. You ship a product selection in bulk, and then delivery is taken care of locally on the ground.

Not only does this open new markets, but it reduces customs paperwork, delivery and returns times, all while mitigating environmental impacts. No longer is the experience clunky for the consumer or the company they are buying from, which in turn builds brand loyalty and promotes word-of-mouth recommendations. However, the key to successful hyperlocalisation is warehouse virtualisation. This is what makes hyperlocalisation economically viable and provides consistently outstanding service across the globe.

Through warehouse virtualisation, businesses have complete control over their logistical operations globally via cloud-based technology. This ensures consistent fulfilment operations, from guiding storage and packing practice to managing couriers and delivery speeds.

Brands that opt to partner with Selazar have the benefit of clearly understanding how much stock they need to keep at hand and what SKUs are most likely to be ordered. As we make advancements in tech-led fulfilment, it is clear to see that the legacy way of owning and operating dozens of globally filled warehouses comes with high fixed costs, overheads, employee wages, and the initial capital outlay. Replicating stock across them all also means tying up a lot of money; this can be a big challenge for a brand, whatever their size, blocking them from their true growth potential.

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Asset-based financing to free up cash

By working with a trusted partner such as Selazar, companies can take advantage of intelligent stock propagation that is all set up and ready to go via a prebuilt warehouse network. This uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand where stock is required, what stock that is and how much must be held in each location. Forecasting promotes efficient distribution. Our systems can tell what is needed where and how to load balance your operations. It does this by analysing historical data and making educated predictions, mitigating many risks. The more data you have, the better the outcomes. Over time this will measure, track and predict seasonal trends and promotional activity. It helps to manage peaks and troughs in demand and supply; real-time oversight allows different stock locations to be turned off and on as order levels dictate. Alongside hyperlocalisation and warehouse virtualisation, there is another solution to a common problem. Many businesses lack the liquidity to make these options work for them.

At Selazar, we offer asset-based financing, with money released against the value of the stock held. We also have 90-day credit terms to ease cash flow worries. Towards localised global fulfilment Since Covid-19, eCommerce expectations have changed. Consumers want things faster; brands want a simple solution to meet that expectation.

 

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Hyperlocalisation and warehouse virtualisation work together neatly to achieve this, successfully meeting demand, driving revenues and cutting carbon. It reduces management and operational efforts too. Downtime, friction and products being out of stock are dealt with, as is having to find the right talent internally to run warehouses or implement effective logistics technologies and software.

Cost savings come through scalability. As a future-thinking 3PL, we customise everything we do to each of our client’s requirements on a global level and provide a single user interface for 24/7 visibility and control. Shopify’s research suggests early adopters of artificial intelligence-enabled supply chain management can improve logistics costs by 15%, inventory levels by 35% and service levels by 65% – compared with slower-moving competitors. However, a move away from the traditional way of doing things throws up many fears. Some companies, especially bigger ones, have invested significantly in costly warehousing infrastructure or are tied to long leases.

But as eCommerce continues to grow fast, fulfilment will head further in this direction. The choice now for C-suites is how quickly they accept joining this journey. For more information, please schedule a free discovery call.

Selazar secures £20 million investment to expand globally

Lots of big changes happened over the last 18 months within the logistics industry. The pandemic created a surge in online shopping in 2020. Though online retail was already popular with many demographics all over the worldthe dynamic new environment highlighted the strategic importance of online delivery within new market segments. Those who may have had prior misgivings about ordering online suddenly had no other option and as a result, quickly got hooked to the benefits of home delivery. With increased demand sales soared, and more eCommerce businesses and retailers needed immediate logistics solutions. This allowed already growing companies like Selazar to thrive even more. A new capital injection will see Selazar quadruple headcount, expand into new territories and offer additional eCommerce fulfilment technology and services to customers. 

 

Table of contents

  1. The Selazar approach

  2. Selazars funding announcement

  3. The future of Selazar operations

  4. Selazar financial services

  5. Smart scalable fulfilment service

 

The Selazar approach

Selazars’ approach to logistics and warehousing helped many companies grow consistently during the pandemic. The UN trade and development experts at UNCTAD reported an increase from 16% to 19% in 2020 for eCommerce sales, a jump to 26.7 trillion.

Selazar has always helped eCommerce businesses to take a methodical approach to grow their businesses quickly and will continue to do so. Outsourcing rapid delivery options to customers are easier than ever through our tech platform, helping companies meet the demands of same day despatch and next day delivery. Selazar has a large roster of clients from fashion to health and beauty, sporting goods, and more – and this new investment in Selazar will see our services improve with more tailored support, smart technology, and worldwide distribution.  

 

This investment represents the opportunity to turbocharge the Selazar business. Our existing investment providers, to whom we are grateful, have allowed us to build out the platform and to create a robust market position. This new investment will allow us to move into new markets – both in geographic and product terms which we will announce in due course. We are hugely excited to be embarking upon the next phase in the building of a world-class eCommerce service business,” says Selazar Chairman Neil Ashworth. 

 

Selazars funding announcement

Selazars funding includes a £20 million growth investment that significantly impacts the company’s valuation. The new capital injection adds to an initial investment from Foresight Group, Invest Northern Ireland and angel investors. These financial firms believe in the Selazar vision and will facilitate numerous initiatives over the coming months – such as global warehousing. Offering more warehouses and distribution overseas increases the advantage to current and future clients.  

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The future of Selazar operations

Selazar has physical warehouse space in the UK but will now be quickly extending its distribution network globally into Europe, the US, and Latin America. This includes new warehouses in Ireland and the Netherlands, followed by four additional warehouses in the United States and one each in Mexico and Colombia. Our courier network already delivers internationally, but the new spaces expanding globally will help more businesses of all sizes in various countries house and deliver products quicker and more efficiently to their customers. 

Selazar stores and delivers stock for a large roster of medium to large-sized businesses. Many notable retailers that rely on or have relied on Selazar’s services include Debenhams and UpCircle. Whereas these great businesses work to create great products for customers, we help them to increase customer retention with speedy and efficient final mile delivery options. The recent investment will help Selazar cater to larger clients like these with more diverse warehousing options and increased storage space. 

Selazar financial services

One of the reasons we will be quadrupling our staff is also to offer new financial services for our customers. Merging logistics and financial services offers exciting new opportunities for growing businesses. We have been on a solid growth trajectory since 2019 and believe that our platform is key to serving medium to enterprise-sized retailers. Now with new financing options for our base of partners, we are innovating a full 360 solution for growing businesses. 

 

Smart scalable fulfilment service

Logistics is an ever-evolving landscape, seeing dramatic changes in the last two decades alone. Though good old-fashioned hard work and great customer service will always be a cornerstone of Selazar, marrying convenient solutions for online retailers with superior digital technology is a key focus that differentiates Selazar from traditional 3pl models. Within just a few years of Selazar’s smart approach to logistics, we have quickly disrupted the market.  

This financial backing will be foundational to bringing on more employees to serve more clients as well as integrating more robust technology and continuing to innovate through our already agile and dynamic portal. As a result of our expansion to an international eCommerce fulfilment company, customers will be able to transfer stock between international warehouses. The has the potential to ease some of the pain that has resulted from Brexit, as it will simplify processes and reduce costs, which is currently a friction point for larger businesses. 

Inspired by the future and predicting the looming eCommerce explosion Selazar has strategically placed itself in a unique position to serve eCommerce retailers requirements all over the world. Every day we spring into action with our unique approach towards creating online business solutions and consumer convenience options. We are grateful to our previous investors and all of our partners for our amazing success to date.  

Selazar and it’s investors are committed to growing sustainable and socially equitable businesses that have a tangible impact on the lives of its partners, employees, and communities. The weight of this new investment will sustain our global growth plans well into the future.

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Expanding Fulfilment Operations with new 3PL Warehouse

Announcement: Our new 3pl warehouse

London, 26 May 2021: Rapidly growing eCommerce fulfilment company Selazar has announced the expansion of its operations, with the opening of a new state-of-the-art flagship 3pl warehouse in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The new warehouse will see the UK-based tech company increase its reach to all areas of the country via this prime geographical location.

 

 

Selazar, which was founded in Belfast and also has offices in London and Birmingham, has been on a solid growth trajectory since its launch in 2019. The company has developed a highly innovative proprietary eCommerce fulfilment platform and primarily services medium-sized and bespoke retailers throughout the UK.

The new flagship 3pl warehouse offers the UK’s most accurate fulfilment service.

It is designed for high-speed, high-volume operations and is already demonstrating its capabilities. In the initial test phase, pick time was reduced by 20 percent within 30 days of the commencement of operations. Peak output volume for the facility is 250,000 orders per month and 1,000,000 picks per month at full speed.

Commenting on the opening of the new warehouse, Jack Williams, CEO of Selazar said: “Our new state-of-the-art warehouse marks an important milestone in our ability to provide fast and innovative fulfilment services throughout the UK. As we push to bring turnaround times lower and lower, we are constantly working to optimise our performance. At the Nuneaton warehouse, we’ve managed to turn orders around in less than 30 minutes. Our new target is sub-15-minutes. As an emerging start-up being recognised within the tech eCommerce space, Selazar is proud to bring 75 new jobs to the local community in the near future. “

The flagship 3pl warehouse setup was completed in record time, only two weeks to fully prep the site for change over. Selazar successfully migrated to the new site using our tech-first approach without interrupting our partner’s service. The new site will become home to a technology innovation centre where product lines and new start-ups can benefit from market-beating technology while they build pipelines and scale their business.

 

The start of an explosive expansion journey began right here in Nuneaton. The lessons learned and success of onboarding this site will form the base plan for Selazar’s expansion across the UK, EU and the Globe.

Selazar customer Will Duffield CEO & Founder, Starwood Sports – a UK-based retailer of premium products for recreational sports said: “Selazar has been an ideal partner for Starwood Sports, in both optimising our customer experience and distribution costs. The team understands our business and offers outstanding service that has helped us to grow our business. We’re certain the new Nuneaton warehouse will extend Selazar’s capabilities, which will benefit us and our customers.”

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About Selazar

Selazar is a UK-based tech-first eCommerce fulfilment specialist. The company has developed a proprietary, cloud-based warehousing and fulfilment platform for eCommerce retailers. We pick, pack and ship products to your customers as efficiently as possible. No fuss, no headaches, just streamlined, intelligent automated operations. Our transparent system lets retailers understand, track and ignore the complex process of fulfilment, allowing them to get on with the real work – growing their business.

Being recognised in Northern Ireland for our innovative approach, Innovate NI and Tech Nation have both recognised Selazar with awards for our easy-to-use platform.

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