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Introduction

Omnichannel retailers often find themselves burning the candles at both ends to meet customer expectations. Not only do they manage eCommerce stores, but also juggle between marketplaces and retail outlets. One report found that like to use multiple channels during their shopping journeys.  

However, omnichannel is not just about where your products are found but how you shape a unified customer experience across all touchpoints—discovery, purchase, fulfillment, shipping, and post-purchase.  

Omnichannel retail demands precision in logistics as retailers strive to deliver consistent customer experience across all channels. So, if you are starting out, this guide has the tactics, tricks, and tools you need to drive success in omnichannel logistics. 

The New Role of Omnichannel Logistics 

The role of logistics in omnichannel retail has shifted gears in the last five years. What started as reconfiguration to keep customer engagement alive has now become a core part of omnichannel retail.

For example, Target’s curbside pickup, launched during , is now part of their fulfillment strategy. Nike’s Click and Collect feature has become synonymous with flexibility—order online, pick up in store, no friction. It’s no surprise then that retailers with strong omnichannel setups reportedly retain around 89% of their customers.

Customer expectations continue to evolve faster than ever. What was once novel like BOPIS (Buy Online Pick-up In-Store), boxless and label free returns, has become standard. Shoppers don’t just want convenience anymore; they want consistency. New technologies and processes have transformed how retailers manage inventory, handle fulfillment, optimize last-mile shipping, and returns.

• A growing demand for same-day delivery has led retailers to convert retail stores as micro-fulfillment hubs. 

• Multi-channel inventory management is now tackled with real-time inventory planning and dynamic forecasting.

• Faster delivery times now demand unified visibility across the logistics chain, AI-enabled routing, and intelligent failed delivery management. 

These innovations help reduce last-mile delivery costs, improve delivery speeds, and unify inventory across all sales channels.

5 Challenges Supply Chain Leaders Face in Omnichannel Logistics 

1. Siloed Order Fulfillment Processes

Due to the sheer scale of omnichannel retail, it is prone to fragmentation. When eCommerce sites, brick-and-mortar stores, and warehouses operate in isolated systems, fulfillment lacks organization and cohesion.

This leads to misaligned inventory allocation, split order fulfillment, delays in picking, packing, and slower response times. The problem is exacerbated by legacy systems for each channel, manual processes, and organizational silos.

2. Last-Mile Inefficiencies and High Costs

The final stretch from distribution centers to the customer destination remains the costliest and least efficient link in omnichannel logistics. Problems abound such as problems such as traffic delays, shipping to the wrong address, customer unavailability, parcels damaged in transit. 

In addition to these, there is a growing tendency of frauds such as porch theft, fabricated order cancellations, and fractured shipment and driver traceability. The last-mile logistics make up —subduing both customers and retailers alike.

3. Gaps in Cross-Channel Inventory Visibility

Omnichannel retailers often lack a real-time, consolidated view of inventory across stores and warehouses. Scenarios such as untimely stockouts in some locations and an overflowing stock in others have become frequent. In omnichannel, where customers expect to purchase a product seen at a store on Facebook or TikTok, phantom stocks indicate the lack of consistent tracking across all sales channels. 

Primary causes for this include decentralized systems, delayed updates, manual syncs, and poor system integration. Achieving a single, synced inventory platform is essential for fulfillment precision.

4. Complex Reverse Logistics and Returns

Processing returns for single channels—online or in-store is operationally complex and costly, often impairing customer experience. Unpredictable return volume, inconsistent policies per channel, lack of transparency, and manual inspections makes it difficult for retailers to have a consistent strategy for returned items. 

In addition to the financial impact, there are issues of high CO2 emissions, resource wastage, and taking a hit on brand reputation. With centralized control, customers face delays in exchange orders and refunds, becoming frustrated with the process and the brand. 

5. Technology Gaps and Operational Segmentation 

Many omnichannel systems lag in integration. Disjointed tech platforms across OMS, WMS, ERP, and POS obstruct real-time orchestration and agile response. 

Omnichannel may be progressing fast but outdated systems, narrow incremental enhancements, siloed management decisions, and slow digital strategy still persist. 

Cross-functional leadership, unified tech strategy, and investment in end-to-end platforms lead to data fragmentation and lack of a cohesive logistics system. 

8 Ways Supply Chain Leaders Can Drive Success in Omnichannel Logistics

Here are eight pivotal strategies logistics leaders must deploy to win in today’s omnichannel world. Each one tackles a core pain point with precise, modern solutions to guide your strategy:

1. Unify Inventory Control Across Channels

Ever wonder why stock levels never match up between your online store and your brick-and-mortar? The reason is the lack of unified inventory control. It’s all about giving your OMS and any connected system, a real-time, holistic view of your stock. 

Having an integrated system (like your omnichannel retail ecosystem)  gets rid of oversells and stocking headaches while improving accuracy by up to 95%. When your teams can see what’s in the warehouse, in store, and online, you avoid checkout disappointments, back-orders, and guesswork. 

You enable BOPIS or ship from the store without the hassle of miscalculating inventory allocation or having fulfillment delays. Deploy a master Order Management System (OMS) that connects POS, ERP, WMS, e‑commerce platforms, and shipping software. 

2. End-to-End Shipment Visibility and Tracking Insights

In omnichannel end-to-end visibility matters even more than traditional eCommerce. Today, customers don’t just check their emails but  ask voice-assistants like Alexa to find their order update. Integrated tracking makes customer support less frantic, and lets you surface delays before anyone asks. It isn’t just convenient—it builds real trust.

Provide customers and teams with transparent, real-time tracking across every delivery touchpoint. Equip your post-purchase notifications with multichannel support: SMS, email, and WhatsApp, IVRS. Enable a dual engine for getting carrier updates with tracking API and webhook, ensuring latency-free flow of shipment information to lower WISMO (‘Where Is My Order’) queries.

Moreover, a new space for AI has emerged in tracking. AI chat agents  are now offering chat-style tracking and standardizing tracking status code for a unified tracking experience. The goal is to have centralized visibility of delays, lost parcels, TAT, and stuck shipments, and prompt detection of anomalies. This is also where AI can take the lead. 

3. Build a Transparent Logistics Layer for Data

As an omnichannel retailer, if your data is scattered  across dashboards, spreadsheets, and random systems—you're not in control. A clean  unified data layer changes that. It centralizes information from orders to fulfillment triggers so you spot problems before they escalate. 

The solution to fragmented processes is to have a connected back-end where eCommerce, POS, and logistics data all flow into one analytics hub. This structure surfaces fulfillment bottlenecks, inventory missteps, or returns spikes as they happen. 

You get to make data-driven decisions, like rerouting orders to high-demand areas and allocating a shipment to the best performing carrier. When everyone, from ops to customer support has a clear, it means faster support for customers and better order management. 

4. Leverage AI and Upgrade Logistics Tech Stack 

Embedding AI and automation for cross picking, routing, forecasting, and managing multi-carrier shipping is no longer in the past. It’s happening now and retailers must keep pace with this change. Warehouse robots are optimizing storage and retrieval for warehouses, AI is dictating routes, and ML based algorithms are predicting estimated delivery dates. 

Amazon’s new multi-function warehouse robots and AI-powered delivery mapping show how innovation pays. With new technology, Amazon is reducing manual labor and streamlining delivery routes. For omnichannel, the scope of what AI can do is similarly huge. 

For example, generating customer demand patterns or forecasting demand spikes will make same-day delivery more efficient. Letting AI provide precise building shapes and obstacles can increase delivery times. Deploying AI to find common anomalies occurring in a warehouse or fulfillment center can drastically lower mishandling mishaps and swiped packages.

5. Optimize Last-Mile Operations with Data-Driven Strategies 

Last-mile delivery is still the costliest leg of the journey. A Capgemini study has shown that it makes up   But with the right AI tools and automated processes, you can cut unnecessary mileage, avoid failed deliveries, and even predict theft hotspots. 

Enable smarter routing decisions with AI that adjusts variables in real-time: weather, traffic congestion, vehicle capacity, obstacles in the road, etc. While this tackles the delivery side of the issue, you can also mitigate delivery risks: automated alerts for stuck shipments or parcel swipes with  hub-level precision ensures there are no shipping errors.

6. Data-Driven Operations Model with Real-Time Control Towers

Imagine running logistics from a command center. A data-driven control tower does exactly that. It delivers live updates, alerts, and predictions so you can steer operations before small issues become big problems. With a central dashboard connecting your OMS, warehouse, carriers, and third-party systems, you get full visibility across your network. 

Whether a truck is stuck at customs or a warehouse is lagging behind on pick rates, you get real-time alerts. Control towers unlock faster response times, fewer costly surprises, and improved SLA adherence. With this centralized oversight, teams shift from reactive to strategic execution—ensuring supply chains are resilient, adaptive, and customer-centric.

7. Turn Brick-And-Mortar Stores into Fulfillment Nodes

A new development in omnichannel is brick-and-mortar stores increasingly doubling as mini fulfillment hubs, creating a strategic advantage in dense urban areas. The idea is to transform underutilized store space into micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs) that serve local demand quickly. And it pays off.

These micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs) leverage automation within compact spaces, speeding up delivery and cutting costs compared to sprawling warehouses. Studies support that MFCs shrink delivery times, cut costs, and enable same-day and even quick commerce (deliveries within 1 to 2 hours) fulfillment.

For retail-heavy omnichannel retailers, this gives a more strategic advantage. Decathlon, for example, has restructured their shopping experience not only by unified online and offline product discovery, but also elevated the speed of delivery to 3 minutes. 

The secret to this was transforming one of their Decathlon stores into a micro-fulfillment center. Transforming stores into logistics assets gives retailers flexibility, faster speed-to-shelf, and enhanced fulfillment agility.

8. Unlock Customer-Centric Returns Experience 

Returns are what your customers demand and as retailers, it’s up to you to make the process easier for your customers and your bottom line.  A seamless omnichannel returns system lets customers return items via stores, lockers, or home pickups while keeping everything visible and trackable. 

Smart warehousing tech like RFID and AI routing and fraud detection has transformed the process into something that’s quick, transparent, and even intelligent. Streamlining return with automation—grading, restocking, or routing back into inventory causes minimal friction in reselling. This approach accelerates resale by centralizing returns into a single system.

How ClickPost Streamlines Omnichannel Logistics 

The core of omnichannel logistics is strategic coordination and unified visibility. This is where ClickPost comes in. It tackles two aspects of logistics: the forward journey and post-purchase experience. 

ClickPost specializes in multi-carrier shipping management and returns optimization. And both are real challenges for many omnichannel retailers, especially when it comes to post-purchase experience, store-to-store movements, and lack of unified visibility. The software solution is built for:

• Omnichannel visibility across warehouses, fulfillment centers, store dispatches with carriers, and first to last-mile coordinated tracking. 

• AI-driven solutions such as EDD prediction, hyper-personalized tracking emails, industry benchmarking for multiple data-points.

• Centralized control tower for granular detection of warehouse TAT, stuck shipments, lost parcels in transit, and SLA breaches with warehouse or hub detection. 

• Exchange-leading returns management equipped with site-wide exchanges, automated price variance reconciliation.

• Green returns, personalized return portal configured with return policy, auto-triggered refunds and store-credit/gift card support. 

• Data-driven decisions with carrier performance analysis, returns breakdown, and overall analysis of every shipping touchpoint. 

Give your logistics a booster with real-time intelligence and AI-powered optimization. Book a demo to get firsthand experience.

Final Takeaways

Omnichannel success isn’t just about offering more sales channels—it’s about building a logistics engine that’s unified, agile, and data-driven. From smarter inventory and fulfillment to AI-led last-mile delivery and seamless returns, supply chain leaders have powerful tools at their disposal.

The key is to integrate with a data-driven system, enlarge scope of visibility, and increase fulfillment and delivery speed. When logistics runs in sync, customer experience and better business performance follows.