For this episode of the eCom Logistics Podcast, we welcome Steven Ciemcioch, President of Warehouse Anywhere. He discusses how they created a preferred partner network of other mid-sized to large independent storage operators. 

This network allowed them to source storage for their customers from 12,000 different locations. In order to make this process more efficient, they also developed RFID technology to help manage the process and provide real-time updates on inventory.

Steven, along with Dan and Ninaad, also discusses the Amazon Effect, how consumer expectations have changed due to this, what brands and logistics companies must do to keep up, and the various factors that influence if and when they should match this speed of fulfillment.

ABOUT STEVEN

Steven Ciemcioch was named President of Warehouse Anywhere, a Life Storage Company, in 2018 and previously served as Corporate Alliance Manager in which he developed and headed the corporate sales division at Life Storage. 

He has extensive experience in building and scaling businesses in a high-growth environment. He has leadership experience across a diverse set of disciplines including sales and marketing, customer service, operations, supply chain, real estate, and finance.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 01:35 Growing Life Storage and creating a national self-storage aggregating network through Warehouse Anywhere
• 13:42 Executing same-day delivery by deploying top 5% SKUs in MFCs
• 21:26 The Amazon effect and when customers are willing to wait for their purchases
• 35:19 Last mile for retail and utilizing the gig economy for fulfillment

QUOTES

30:54 The Amazon Effect is most apparent in general merchandise - Ninaad: "If you're a general merchandise and that stuff exists on walmart.com, amazon.com, and you have these sites and marketplaces that are giving you the next-day, 2-day delivery experiences, consumers will pay couple of extra dollars and get it with that options."

31:48 MFCs maintain a boutique feel that is lost in Amazon Effect - Steven: "One thing I like about the MFC model, and you guys can appreciate this is, in our smaller centers, it allows a little bit of a more boutique-y feel and right now we're handling a lot of various products in the MFCs from our large fulfillment center. A lot of apparel like Ninaad talked about but I see the MFCs evolving more into that health and beauty, that craft beer space, especially we talk about dense marketplace. People sitting around in a large city, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, big demand weeknights and weekends where they just want something and they just want it quick."

Find out more about Steven in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-ciemcioch-38278773/
• Website: https://www.warehouseanywhere.com/

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