When Omnichannel Retailers Don’t Deliver What Customers Ordered

Retailers with brick-and-mortar networks have increasingly turned to store-based fulfillment to compete with online platforms, but the concept is far from new. As early as the late 19th century, the world’s oldest department store, Au Bon Marché, was already using its physical retail space to fulfill mail orders, delivering goods by horse and carriage. Fast forward to the digital age, and this “ship-from-store” model has re-emerged as a strategic response to the rise of e-commerce. During the pandemic, the model, a prime example of “omnichannel fulfillment,” went mainstream, promising faster, cheaper delivery by using local stores to fulfill online orders. Walmart now fulfills half of its online orders through stores. Target, after a $3 billion investment, fulfills 95% through nearly 2,000 locations.