Warehouse Automotation for Online Retailers: Research

The survey by Sapio Research, covered more than 100 online retailers.

• 83% believe that automation will drive future online retail growth.
  
• More than 75% respondents said they were handling up to 50,000 orders per day, with this rising to 75,000 orders per day for some during peak periods, putting pressure on warehousing and delivery. 
• Some 45% are sure that a lack of staff to fulfil orders was a key hurdle to meeting delivery schedules while 42 per cent highlighted order errors.
• 74% of respondents have less than half of their warehouse management processes currently automated. 
• 49% cent are planning to further reduce manual warehouse processes before their next peak spell.
• Majority of online retailers marked that customer expectations on delivery have risen significantly over the last five years, and 59% of those admit that meeting these expectations is the biggest challenge they face.
• More than 75% beleive that increased warehouse automation would help them improve their customer service capabilities. 
• 48% are planning to change their order fulfilment processes in the future with 49% believing that increased automation will enable them to handle orders more quickly and efficiently during peak periods. 
• In addition 41% said it would help them to respond to orders more quickly
• 38%said it would help reduce picking and packing errors.