The WMS Buyers' Guide

Hello...

For over a decade now, the Peoplevox Warehouse Management System (lovingly known as PVX to most who use it) has been operating at the core of some of the world’s most exciting, fastest growing online retailers and e-commerce brands. From the very earliest days, Peoplevox was built to inspire confidence in companies running their own warehouse, that no matter how much they grew, they would have the fulfillment capability to back it up. And that no matter how many customers they gained, they would be able to provide a truly remarkable customer experience.

Fast forward to the present day: order volumes are booming exponentially, consumer demands are more exacting, and the competitive landscape for retail is stacked with brands trying to stand out. Those values the platform was built on are now more critical than ever. We are still committed to creating unbeatable workflows for e-commerce warehouses and giving our customers full control over the fulfillment process. As part of Descartes’ E-Commerce Division, Peoplevox customers are supported by a global team and have access to a broad range of logistics expertise, capability and solutions. After reading this guide, you’ll understand our approach and know whether we’ll be able to help your business as it grows.

Dirk Haschke
General Manager, Descartes E-Commerce

Our solution: Descartes Peoplevox WMS

Our WMS has been purpose-built to help e-commerce warehouses to perform at their highest level. Its powerful workflows eliminate warehouse chaos, increase speed and efficiency across all warehouse functions, give warehouse managers the control they need over their fulfillment, remove the capacity for human error and deliver lifetime ROI.

• Configurable: 100+ configuration options, process flows you can change on the screen and granular user permissions.
• Partner network: Leverage our extensive network of vendors, web agencies, and consultants to build a technology stack that works.
• Scalable: From 100 orders a day to 100,000. Your platform for scaling up your fulfillment.
• Software-as-a-Service: A single code base upgraded regularly with everything managed for you.

The Android WMS

90% of warehouse activity is carried out on the move. Therefore, Peoplevox is first and foremost an Android app where everything from receiving goods to dispatching orders can be done on a mobile device.

• Offline mode
• Affordable hardware
• Paperless processes
• Easy to learn

Reporting and Dashboards

Use our reporting tools to get the data you need from your warehouse operation. Stay ahead of the customer demand curve and track productivity order by order.
Peoplevox Web Platform: Our web app is the control hub for everything. Configure it to suit your business requirements.

Why you need a specialist WMS

It’s important to have a clear idea about why you need a WMS and what you’re looking to get out of your new WMS provider. Focus on the top 2-3 critical issues that are most affecting your warehouse. Then qualify the potential impact that removing these issues will have on your business.

Key Questions:

• Is the warehouse team able to keep up on our busiest days?
• How many mistakes are we making on a monthly basis? (i.e oversells, mispicks...)
• How does this effect our brand, reputation, and customer experience?
• Is our growth being held back by fulfillment?

Trusting in technology, not people

When you first start out you determine your own manual ways of working; you don’t need a lot of software, so you develop tribal knowledge. This tribal knowledge has major flaws. It’s difficult to scale, takes a long time to teach new starters, and provides the perfect breeding ground for chaos - particularly during peak periods.

Inevitably, this results in inaccurate inventories, overselling, mispicking, sending out the wrong orders, unhappy customers...all of which can have a snowball effect on your bottom line. We will work with you to establish the best way for your warehouse to run.

Customer experience

Finding (and paying for) new customers all the time in today’s hyper competitive market is seriously challenging. Getting lifetime value out of existing customers is the most effective way to grow. We truly believe the best online retailers are the ones who provide the best customer experience.

This customer experience is driven predominately by the performance of your warehouse. Did I order something and get immediate confirmation? Is my order being processed fast, and shipped on schedule? Did I actually receive all the items I ordered, nothing wrong or damaged? Taking your customer on a smooth, stress-free journey along the fulfillment process is a sure-fire way to earn their trust and loyalty. Enabling the warehouse team to deliver remarkable customer experiences every time is the core competency of Peoplevox WMS.

Reference Clients

Supporting the scale of truly ambitious brands:

• Brands like Gymshark scaled from £10mn in revenue to £100mn,
• Enabling Lounge Underwear to hire in 50+ ‘Peak Week’ staff to handle their flash sale demand.

This is how our buying process works

1. Video consultation and understanding your requirements: During this conversation, we’ll get to grips with your biggest warehousing problems and determine whether we’re the right solution for you.
2. Evaluating your ‘tech stack’: We will discuss Peoplevox in relation to the other pieces of software you currently use.
3. Tailored solution walkthrough: We take you through a product tour that gives you a transparent view of the features that you would be using if you chose to work with us.
4. Delivering a solution proposal: We provide you with a quote that will account for implementing the WMS.
5. Determining implementation timeline: We complete implementation within 10-12 weeks.
6. Signing the agreement: By the time you get to sign your name on the dotted line, you’ll have a crystal-clear view of what’s going to happen.

How does Peoplevox’s WMS integrate with existing systems?

When we talk to you, we quickly establish which pieces of technology you’re currently using. Questions to answer about your tech stack include:

• Which piece of software is the product master?
• Which is the inventory master?
• Which is the sales order master?
• And which is the purchase order master?

Three methods for perfect integrations

• Ready-made solutions: We’ve gained a clear view of who these vendors are and how we can best work with them.
• Integration partners: They’ll give you an even wider view of how your entire tech stack could be working better to support your business.
• Developing a bespoke solution: Our API gives you access to the data you need while allowing for integration with any new system that you may need in the future.

How is the WMS implemented?

We complete implementation projects remotely, wherever you are in the world. We charge a fixed implementation fee, so you know exactly how much you’re going to pay before the project starts.

Five tips for implementation

1. Develop a project team.
2. Having some technical understanding helps.
3. Know how you store your web data.
4. Prepare for real-time inventories.
5. Get ready for a stocktake.