GrandCanals Releases Fulfillment Intelligence Cloud v3.5 and Significant Enhancements to TurboRFP

LOS GATOS, Calif., Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GrandCanals, the leader in analytics-driven fulfillment, today announced the general availability of the Fulfillment Intelligence Cloud version 3.5. This latest, updated version includes several significant enhancements to TurboRFP which will simplify the creation of RFPs, comparing results, and managing the RFP process.

Shipping and fulfillment costs rise every year and, as a result, have become a significant and growing percentage of cost of goods sold for eCommerce companies. These costs can't be pushed on to the consumer. In a study from eMarketer, 58% of U.S. respondents said they abandoned the shopping cart because shipping costs made the total purchase cost more than expected.

Today, to obtain better pricing and services from their carriers, eCommerce companies are forced to perform a cumbersome RFP process, with all of the effort and pain that implies. At present, it can take three months (or more) of research, analysis and internal meetings just to deliver an initial RFP to carriers. Additionally, it takes even more time to analyze the proposals received from all carriers, followed by negotiating round after negotiating round. At the end of the day, this staggering effort yields only 3-5% savings on average.

"These days, eCommerce companies are between a rock and a hard place. On one side you have the rising costs of shipping. On the other, Amazon is raising customer expectations on shipping cost and service," said Sean Wilcox, Vice President of Marketing, GrandCanals. "If you aren't Amazon.com, what do you do and where do you start?  The enhanced TurboRFP functionality gives companies the ability to optimize the first step of the journey, which is to successfully negotiate with their carriers to ensure there are no shipping cost surprises in the shopping cart."

TurboRFP was created to streamline the RFP process and obtain savings on the order of 20% on average. In version 3.5 of the Fulfillment Intelligence Cloud, TurboRFP has been enhanced to include three distinct elements: 

Once a company has received multiple carrier bids, RFP Compare normalizes and analyzes the real impact of all carrier bids to achieve the best possible outcome. This includes analysis of cost vs. transit time trade-offs and recommendations on the best mix of carriers. As a result, the enhanced TurboRFP allows companies to achieve cost savings of 20% or more in weeks instead of months and keep shipping costs in the shopping cart low. 

"Given our rapid company growth, it is imperative to control fulfillment costs without sacrificing customer expectations," said Sarah Hague, Executive Director of Logistics, Glossier. "The Fulfillment Intelligence Cloud from GrandCanals gives us the visibility and control we need to not only manage our fulfillment costs, but also improve our fulfillment to power the best possible online customer experience."

To help companies optimize their fulfillment contracts prior to this year's holiday season, GrandCanals is running a promotion on TurboRFP through September. For more information on the promotion, please visit http://go.grandcanals.com/TurboRFP_LP.html. For more information on GrandCanals, please visit https://www.grandcanals.com/ and follow the company on Twitter at @GrandCanalS and on LinkedIn.

About GrandCanals

Based in the Silicon Valley, GrandCanals is the market leader in analytics-driven fulfillment. Leveraging more than a century in fulfillment experience, and decades of deep knowledge in analytics software, GrandCanals delivers the capability for companies to fulfill with confidence and delight their customers. As a result, GrandCanals helps businesses of all sizes profitably meet customer expectations in a rapidly transforming eCommerce world. For more information go to www.grandcanals.com and follow GrandCanals on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
John Kreuzer
jkreuzer@luminapr.com
(408) 896-3307

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grandcanals-releases-fulfillment-intelligence-cloud-v35-and-significant-enhancements-to-turborfp-300508228.html

SOURCE GrandCanals