In our “@Home Interview” series, we are highlighting our associates from around the world in their work-from-home environments, how they have adapted to our new ways of working, and what they are most looking forward to in this coming year.
Meet Dhiraj, Director of Global Omni Channel Fulfillment Technology at PVH.
Please describe your role at PVH.
In my role as Director of Global Omni Channel Fulfillment Technology, I am responsible for providing strategic and technology leadership for PVH’s global Omni Channel Order Capture, Order Management and Inventory Optimization platforms and solutions.
Please describe your team’s role in implementing the Manhattan Distributed Order Management system. What does the system do and how did it help us pivot operations during the global pandemic?
My team is responsible for managing and implementing the Distributed Order Management application, also known as DOM. This platform has a global footprint where we support Wholesale and Retail businesses in Asia and owned and operated e-commerce business for all brands in North America.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, PVH was faced with two inventory challenges: first, inventory at our e-commerce fulfillment provider was insufficient to meet the sudden increase in order demand; and second, our stores were closed or partially closed which stalled the inventory turnover. To address this growth in digital orders and scale the fulfillment capabilities, we received direction from leaders of TPG, our global technology team, to deliver a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to expand the fulfillment capabilities.
In collaboration with multiple teams across TPG, Buy Online, Ship from Store program was developed in just over two weeks to ship products from our mega-stores. We quickly identified opportunities to fulfill consumer demand directly from our retail stores. Distributed Order Managements (DOM) provided the required Order Orchestration capability to send the order to the most optimized fulfillment locations in our network. By October, we built capabilities to expand the fulfillment from PVH’s own distribution center in Jonesville, NC.
How has this system changed the PVH e-commerce business?
The seamless ability to expand and prioritize the order routing based on true inventory availability along with accounting the consumer’s shipping geo location ensures delivery of an excellent customer experience that meets the overall expectations of our consumers.
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Ship from store delivered over 120,000 orders to consumers from our stores
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Ship from our internal Jonesville warehouse led to 30,000 units daily incremental shipping capacity during holiday peak
Initiatives like this and other programs in digital space have been key drivers in accelerating e-commerce growth.
What do you see as the future of retail and e-commerce operations?
The e-commerce business is at an all-time high. Lockdowns, travel bans, and store closures have forced the consumer to shop online more frequently. The consumer has also been able to take advantage of other unique ways to enhance their shopping experience, including shopping online at picking up in-store or curbside.
Some of the main drivers for future growth of retail and e-commerce operations will be but not limited to are:
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Seamless shopping experience, whether in our retail or e-commerce environments
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Fast and convenient shipping where and when consumer needs it
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The ability to recognize evolving life moments of our consumer and being able to deliver upon amazing experiences will create greater loyalty amongst our consumers
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Deepening the connection to consumers improves retention