To support its ongoing online demand and digital sales acceleration, Kohl’s opened its sixth eCommerce fulfillment hub. The 1.2 million square-foot center, which is located in Etna, Ohio, is the retailer’s biggest, “most efficient” fulfillment hub and will be focused on Kohls.com orders, according to a Tuesday (April 6) announcement.
Paul Gaffney, Kohl’s senior executive vice president, chief technology officer and head of supply chain, said in the announcement that the retailer’s investment in a sixth eCommerce fulfillment hub “will meaningfully grow our peak fulfillment capacity.”
“The new facility makes Kohl’s more efficient at fulfilling orders via automation and modern technology, puts Kohl’s products geographically closer to our customers, and ultimately gets our great products to our customers faster,” Gaffney said in the announcement.
The hub makes use of automation and technology to increase the speed and efficiency of handling and delivering Kohls.com orders, according to the announcement. Construction on the hub started in 2019 before being halted for a time in 2020 because of the pandemic. It then started up again this year.
A few years before opening the Ohio center, Kohl’s opened its fifth eCommerce fulfillment hub, in Plainfield, Ind., in 2017. The retailer also runs eCommerce fulfillment hubs that are located in DeSoto, Texas; Monroe, Ohio; Edgewood, Md.; and San Bernardino, Calif.
Aside from its eCommerce fulfillment centers, the retailer uses its over 1,100 retail locations throughout the country to fill Kohls.com orders. Kohl’s said that its stores filled almost 45 percent of digital orders in 2020 via omnichannel services such as Ship to Store, In Store Pick Up and Drive Up.
The news comes as Kohl’s said its fourth-quarter sales dropped 10.1 percent, tempered by a 21 percent rise in its digital operations.
“Our organization has continued to navigate through the pandemic successfully. Our business is gaining momentum and our strong cash generating model has proven resilient,” Kohl’s Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass said on a call with analysts at the time that the company reported its earnings.
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