Reset for retail. From survival in crisis to growth in uncertain times.

These days, the COVID-19 pandemic have boosted all the inefficiencies and weak points of how economies in general, and companies in particular, have been functioning before. The health, social, working crisis reveal all wrong decisions of the past or the postponement of business transformation and the use of digital techs in business processes. 

Logistic chains are under a pressure higher than ever. The measures to limit the disease spreading taken by authorities in countries of origin for raw materials and products have generated production interruptions and stock ruptures. Tighter border controls and strict transport regulations led to longer delivery terms. Processes dependent on human presence, such as transportation, fulfillment and sales in brick and mortar shops needed extra-safety measures and redundancies in order to reduce the risk for contamination and the exposure in case of quarantine. The uncertainties related to economies’ health and job safety after the first wave of the pandemic is over reduced people’s willingness to spend on durables and higher value products. Last, but not least, the closure of large commercial centers and the population movement limitation reduced significantly the chance to meet their customers for many businesses.

Things get worse because we don’t know if, once the COVID-19 crisis is over, it will not come back. Even if some countries are already loosening their restrictions, others are contemplating second outbreaks. Progress is volatile and, from now on, special situations could happen anytime, so we need to learn how to live with them and adapt.Every manager should change his focus from short term survival to strategic, long term transformation. The priority becomes how to grow and thrive in the long run in environments which are not always favorable.

In special situations, the companies need resilience to volatile conditions and have to enhance their capability to change quickly the ways they work, sell and relate with their customers.

Digital techs play a significant role in the strategy of every company that plans for the future. Digital transformation allows for simpler processes, increased efficiency and lower dependency on manual work. Automation enables for quick adjustment of the processed order volumes, either up or down, without significant costs. Online presence makes it possible for customers to be reached and buy products from wherever they are.

But, there’s a downsize to all these. Most of the time, digital transformation is expensive, it takes time and skills, mentalities and work processes need to change significantly. In a context of business conditions changing by the week, retailers who did not prepare already seem hopeless. But the answer may come from existing digital platforms offered as a service.

One of the solutions to balance offline and online processes, available to small and large companies alike, is the digital platform offered by Postis. The tech startup developed in Romania the first digital solution dedicated to streamline supply-chain processes in order to increase efficiency, full predictability and full transparency.

Established in 2016, the company developed a platform that bridges ERP, WMS, OMS and TMP systems and orchestrates the data traffic among them in order to optimize the transport and delivery planning. The best delivery option is identified and allocated automatically based on complex sets of criteria related to transported products, destination, contractual terms or the couriers’ or transporters’ capability to deliver. 

With investments in excess of EUR 2 million so far, the Postis Platform has evolved into an open ecosystem of retailers, logistics integrators, e-fulfillers, warehouse operators, transporters, couriers and technology providers, all integrated with each other in order to generate best practices that make the transportation of goods from warehouses to shops, homes, offices or points of distribution simpler, faster, less expensive. 

“In these complicated times, we bring our technology, experience and partnerships to support companies in need. Most of all, we deliver not only solutions for short term survival, but we help our customers to make those business adjustments which will prepare them for the following period, when demand will increase once again, but with new purchasing habits. The growths in online purchases, card payments, home deliveries, all these transformations which now happened forcefully are here to stay and will become basic tools for every retailer who wants to develop on a long term” said Mircea Stan, CEO Postis.

The tech startup offers to retailers who need process optimizations and improved capacity to deliver online orders multiple benefits, such as free access to the Postis Platform, enabling fast integration of their IT platforms with logistics, e-commerce, courier and transporter systems. Consultancy, integration services and setup are offered for free. Retailers can limit their dependency on a single courier and ensure redundancy by using simultaneously, from the same platform, two or more transport solutions. The automation of fulfillment, order processing and delivery increases the productivity and decreases the number of people that need to work in the field and are exposed to risks. More, the features available in the Postis Platform allow for accelerated online presence and e-commerce adoption.