Forget about the omnichannel. We're living in the world of "channel-free" logistics, says Bill Thayer, founder and chief executive officer of Fillogic. 

What is wrong with the omnichannel? It has been the “standard of retail logistics for the last 20 to 30 years,” says Thayer. But it has also resulted in a siloed supply chain, in which each element is operating inefficiently.

The growth of e-commerce, and the consequent merging of digital and physical, requires “a new way to engage customers,” Thayer says. “They don’t think in channels.”

It’s all about inventory, he says — where it is, and how it can be deployed to customers in the most efficient way. Buyers don’t care about how they acquire products; they just want them “fast and free, with cheap returns.”

The various ways that product gets to market — whether on pallets or as individual packages generated by online ordering — are modes of transportation, not channels, Thayer says. Retailers and logistics providers need to think in terms of a single well of inventory that’s distributed among multiple locations, including brick-and-mortar stores.

Fulfillment from the store is a key option that needs to be considered in a “channel-free” environment. Thayer says retailers built too many giant distribution centers during the pandemic, expecting demand to remain at that level indefinitely. A distributed model, in which product is accessible in stores and smaller distribution facilities, is a better way to adjust to unexpected dips and rises in demand. The overarching question is “Can you get it closer to the consumer?” 

Retailers have to be ready to fulfill orders by the mode that makes the most sense at any given moment, whether from a traditional DC, shopping mall, store or pickup at the curb. Channels, says Thayer, are the result of a commitment to inflexible infrastructure. “Technology and consultants have for many years been saying that this is the way it’s done. It’s not.”