Berlin, December 05, 2013. 2013: SPIELE MAX, one of the leading chain stores for toys, baby equipment and children’s fashion, has launched an online store just in time for the start of the Christmas Shop – customers have also been able to shop online since the end of October. Rieck is once again responsible for the logistics.
The two companies have been working together since 2005. Since then, the logistics specialist has managed SPIELE MAX’s central warehouse at the Berlin site of Rieck Projekt Kontrakt Logistik. “When we were planning the online store, we already knew that Rieck was also successful in the B2C logistics sector. So it quickly became clear to us that we wanted to extend the good cooperation with our logistics partner to this area of business,” says Christian Ritschel, authorized signatory at SPIELE MAX AG and responsible for organization, IT and supply chain.
Chaos for more efficiency
For the online business, Rieck has expanded SPIELE MAX’s central warehouse with a shelving system that is tailored to the product range and the special picking requirements. Rieck organizes this part of the warehouse according to the so-called “chaotic system”: many different items are stored side by side on the shelves. This shortens the distances covered by the warehouse staff, who prepare hundreds of consignments for dispatch to the corresponding number of customers every day with the help of electronic multi-order pick lists.
From the parcel to the pallet
Deliveries that weigh less than 31.5 kilos and are below the specified size limits are handed over by Rieck to CEP service providers such as DHL or UPS on the agreed date. The logistics specialist ships large items such as children’s furniture, high chairs or slides with its own freight forwarder and via the IDS network. “This is a huge advantage for our customers because we can also manage the transportation of general cargo to private individuals,” says Patrick von Oy, Managing Director of Rieck Projekt Kontrakt Logistik. “For companies with a product range like that of SPIELE MAX, the notification of shipments and communication with end customers plays an important role – this is where sensitivity and flexibility are required.”
Documented and traceable
A specially developed IT solution ensures the desired transparency in the online business. “The functions required to process thousands of individual orders and returns are completely different from those in the general cargo business, where large shipping units for a small number of recipients tend to be moved,” explains Patrick von Oy. Using modern warehouse software, Rieck books all items delivered to the central warehouse on the same day and reports the receipt of goods electronically to SPIELE MAX so that the goods are immediately available in the online store. SPIELE MAX sends the orders from the online store to Rieck. If a buyer nevertheless decides to return an item, Rieck checks the returns, takes faultless goods back to the warehouse and books them in the warehouse management system.
Dynamic online trade, flexible logistics
SPIELE MAX and Rieck’s preparations for the grand finale went hand in hand. Although the processes for store deliveries are well established and were recently optimized with a new pick-by-voice system, online retail places completely different demands on retailers and logistics providers. “Online retail is much more dynamic than bricks-and-mortar retail,” says Patrick von Oy. “Anyone who runs an online store has to react quickly, because competition and price adjustments are very transparent on the internet. As a logistics provider, we have to be correspondingly flexible.”