Imagine you buy a product that requires self-assembly, however upon opening the box at home, you realize that there are critical pieces absent. These elements could range from screws and bolts to power cords. You know you didn’t lose them, and now you have to make another trip back to the electronic or hardware store. The consumer should not have to put this much effort once they have bought the product. The business should have done this for them.
Many products in the retail and equipment industries that are sold, require some level of assembly or setup. They come with instructions, and all the pieces should be included. Or, in the case of software, the package may come with a preset, ordered number of disks designed to guide a user through an installation. Companies are turning to kitting, to combine the larger ticket items with their supplementary smaller ticket items, in order to maximize consumer convenience. This way, when someone buys a “complex” product, they will simply need to follow the instructions. Unlike the magical landscapes created by Lego and Barbie, each piece is not sold separately.
Kitting for retail simultaneously increases consumer and business utility. Consumers prefer one-stop shopping to having to chase down every last item on their list. But why not just eliminate the list, and provide a consumer with all their needs (multiple items), in one location? It would be near impossible to forget or overlook something. The margin for human error in a consumer mistakenly assembling a kit from the wrong pieces, would be reduced to 0. The business has already told you what is important, and what you must have. This way, the customer does not have to deal with the hassle of product, version, or price comparison. This can be especially difficult for consumers without a technical background.
In maximizing consumer preferences with kitting, businesses have also been able to optimize their own preferences in saving time and money. Kitting can businesses reduce their inventory carrying costs. With the help of ERP insight, warehouse managers can more strategically stock their inventories to maximize efficient distribution as well as reduce their own internal labor costs. Instead of warehousing many different related items, a company would only warehouse one, lowering its carrying costs. Contact HSO today to learn more!
For further reading on kitting for retail check out this post at HSO.com
About HSO Retail
HSO, Microsoft’s ERP Partner of the Year 2014, is a leading provider of enterprise business solutions for the Multi-Channel Retail and Service industries, including Microsoft Dynamics AX, CRM, Office365 and SharePoint. For more information, contact HSO at (847) 348-0588, through email info-usa@hso.com or visit www.hso.com/us.
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