Walmart retail consolidation program

how retail consolidation to walmart works with odw logistics

ODW Logistics has a very robust retail consolidation program that combines freight from multiple shippers and distributes for many major retailers, half of those directly bound for Walmart facilities. Through our retail consolidation program spanning almost a decade, ODW Logistics delivers freight to Walmart Distribution Centers across the country. The idea behind retail consolidation is to take Less-than-Truckload (LTL) shipments and consolidate them into Full Truckload (FTL) shipments, reducing transportation costs, improving your Walmart OTIF scores, and decreasing your carbon footprint. 

Simply put, inbound shipments first arrive at ODW facilities. Then, ODW mixes your freight with other client’s freight to build efficient shipments and maximize transportation savings within our Retail Consolidation Center. Efficient shipments are built through cube and weight truck optimization. Then, ODW coordinates the distribution of the consolidated freight to Walmart facilities nationwide. 

The Benefits of Retail Consolidation

There are many benefits to retail consolidation for shippers to consider. The main benefits of retail consolidation is cost savings through shipment consolidation. When shippers are able to ship freight with fewer trucks, from LTL to FTL, the cost of equipment and labor decreases due to less utilized trucks. With ODW’s retail consolidation program, shippers save, on average, 30% in cost savings by taking advantage of this service. 

ODW’s Walmart retail consolidation program also helps shippers drastically improve their Walmart retail scorecard with this enhanced and efficient shipping process. Freight gets delivered to Walmart sooner while costing less - that’s a win-win. 

By utilizing a retail consolidation program, shippers can also reduce their carbon footprint by as much as 30%. Improved trailer utilization helps in reducing the carbon footprint as every inch of the equipment is maximized with certain freight, resulting in less trucks out on the road. 

With a retail consolation program, shippers also can mitigate the supply chain risks that come with managing multiple LTL orders. When combining into fewer FTL shipments, that means there are fewer touches on that freight. This results in fewer chances for that shipment to be destroyed or lost, decreasing overall “short” shipping risks. 

How Walmart Retail Consolidation Differs from Traditional LTL

Traditional LTL shipping consists of LTL carriers hauling LTL freight through multiple touchpoints before reaching its designated destination. LTL freight is usually smaller freight that doesn’t require the use of an entire FTL trailer. Usually, traditional LTL shipments take a bit longer to deliver due to their hub and spoke shopping model. 

With Walmart retail consolidation, multiple shippers can use the available space on an FTL truck to have their goods delivered to Walmart in a timely manner. This way, all space on one truck is utilized as it’s going to one location and delivery times are shorter, as FTL shipping doesn’t have multiple touchpoints along the way. 

Retail compliance requirements for shipping to walmart

In today’s retail environment, shippers need to check for changing retail compliance regularly. Oftentimes, shippers are not aware of compliance changes in time, resulting in chargebacks. Chargebacks are compliance blind spots for shippers, resulting in monetary damage. Retails keep increasing the demand for on-time in-full (OTIF) deliveries and shippers need to be prepared when it happens. Accessorial chargeback, such as wrong pallet grades or mis-stacked cases, result in chargebacks. If not controlled, those charges add up for shippers. 

Walmart retail compliance for food and beverage shippers 

Partnering with an experienced 3PL with an advanced retail consolidation program allows food and beverage shippers to stay ahead of retail compliance updates as 3PLs are responsible for the retail compliance. Since your 3PL partner handles the transportation leg of your freight, then you can outsource that worry to them. 3PLs also have to vet their carriers periodically to avoid blind spots in retail compliance. 

walmart's otif requirements:

What Are Walmart’s On-Time, In-Full Requirements? 

Walmart’s on-time, in-full requirements are designed for the purpose of Walmart having the right inventory for the customer when they want it. Walmart OTIF looks at two things: if the shipment arrived on-time and if it arrived in-full, meaning did it match what was on the shipment paperwork. 

As of February 1, 2024, Walmart’s OTIF requirements are:

• 90% on-time
• 95% in-full

ODW Logistics consistently exceeds the Walmart OTIF thresholds. ODW Logistics has worked with customers averaging 80% on-time, some even 20% on-time. With ODW’s Walmart retail consolidation program, these customers are regularly over the 90% on-time and 95% in-full requirements, and often reaching 100% on-time for many weeks of the year.

How to Reduce OTIF Fines from Walmart

Reducing OTIF fines from Walmart can be challenging. That’s why shippers need to partner with an experienced Walmart logistics expert, such as ODW Logistics, with almost a decade of history delivering to Walmart facilities through ODW’s retail consolidation program. This program helps shippers improve Walmart retail compliance while reducing Walmart OTIF fines by as much as 90% in some cases.

ODW’s Walmart Retail Consolidation program helps reduce OTIF fines in a specific way. ODW starts the fine reduction process with the Must Arrive By Date (MABD) in mind. After orders are received and optimized into truck loads based on being able to meet the MABD, final delivery appointments are confirmed. Only at that time is the order released to the warehouse to begin picking and packing the freight. With this process flow, ODW Logistics is able to align all the processes with the goal of being on time, which in turn reduces OTIF fines significantly.

• High Ridge Brands needed to tighten up its transportation operations to avoid penalties and late fees. Learn more here.

Faq about walmart retail consolidation

What is Walmart retail consolidation?

ODW Logistics has a retail consolidation program that combines and optimizes freight from multiple shippers into full truckload shipments and delivers that freight to over 40 Walmart distribution centers across the country.`

What are the benefits of Walmart’s retail consolidation program?

There are many benefits of ODW’s retail consolidation program to Walmart. Shippers gain access to cost savings through shipment consolidation. With ODW’s retail consolidation program, shippers save, on average, 30% in cost savings by taking advantage of this service. ODW’s Walmart retail consolidation program also helps shippers drastically improve their Walmart retail scorecards, leading to stronger accounts with the giant retailer. Shippers can also reduce their carbon footprint by as much as 30%. With a retail consolation program, shippers also can mitigate the supply chain risks that come with managing multiple LTL orders. When combining into fewer FTL shipments to Walmart, there are fewer touches on that freight. This results in fewer chances for that shipment to be destroyed or lost.

Are there case studies or success stories of suppliers who have participated in Walmart’s retail consolidation program?

Make sure to partner with an experienced company that knows how to do retail consolidation the right way. It's important to choose a reputable partner that has the technology, volume, personnel, and perhaps most importantly, relationships, to truly optimize your freight. Choose a partner that takes a strategic and collaborative approach to delivering a robust retail consolidation solution that fits your unique needs as well as the requirements of large retailers, such as Walmart. 

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