American Eagle Outfitters has improved turn times, with the help of its supply chain transformation that has taken place over the last year.
Under its new model, the retailer reduced SKU counts to focus on the “the most productive styles.
The transformation involved opening multiple regional distributions centers during the company’s previous quarter.
This allowed it to pull three weeks of inventory out of stores and into this network to keep in-stock levels up, while providing more options on where the inventory can go.
The retailer had fewer shipments per order, and it delivered to consumers 1.5 days faster compared to Q1 2019, the COO said.
Organising regional supply chains is a growing focus in the world of e-commerce.
Having more supply chain centers can decrease transportation costs, though it increases facility cost.
It is also traditionally thought to increase inventory cost, but American Eagle said it seeks more “flexibility” in its inventory.
