Multi-channel fulfilment for luxury fashion retailer

As a pioneer of luxury fashion ecommerce, a leading global fashion retailer has built its reputation on more than exceptional brands. Its customers expect an equally exceptional delivery experience — from precise delivery windows to distinctive, premium packaging.

Behind that experience is a complex, multi-channel fulfilment operation spanning multiple brands. As volumes, product ranges and operational requirements evolved, the challenge was to keep fulfilment fast, accurate and flexible across a continually expanding multi-unit estate.

The challenge

Operating at the premium end of ecommerce means that fulfilment performance is part of the customer experience. The London operation needed to coordinate multiple automation technologies and warehouse processes while supporting different channels, service requirements and product types. The estate also continued to evolve, with new capacity and capabilities added over time.

The challenge was therefore not simply to automate individual processes, but to orchestrate the entire operation intelligently — ensuring orders were prioritised, inventory was routed efficiently and service-level commitments were consistently achieved with minimal manual intervention.

The solution

Inteq deployed its Inteq Warehousing Software (IWS) to provide the orchestration layer across the London operation.

IWS coordinates activity across four operational units, bringing together a diverse automation estate and ensuring each part of the operation works as one connected system.

The solution incorporates:

• 12 mini-load cranes, providing automated storage and retrieval.
• Commissioner buffer, supporting efficient order flow and sequencing.
• 10 put-to-light (PTL) pick stations, enabling high-speed goods-to-person picking.
• Hanging-garment automation, supporting the specialist handling requirements of hanging apparel.
• VNA trucks, providing flexible movement within the warehouse.

At the heart of the solution, IWS manages SLA-driven bumping and channel splitting, dynamically coordinating orders according to service requirements and destination channel. This enables the operation to respond intelligently to changing priorities without relying on extensive manual planning.

Intelligent orchestration across multiple channels

The complexity of a multi-brand luxury ecommerce operation means that every order cannot simply follow the same path.

IWS provides a central layer of intelligence that coordinates inventory, automation and fulfilment processes across the estate. Orders can be prioritised according to service-level requirements, while channel-specific flows can be managed efficiently across the available automation.

The result is an operation where automation does more than move products — it works together as a coordinated fulfilment system.

A solution designed to evolve

The partnership has developed over more than six years, with the solution extended through four phases as operational requirements changed.

Rather than replacing the existing architecture each time the business evolved, the IWS platform provided a foundation that could be expanded and adapted.

The solution was ultimately extended to support an off-site fulfilment centre operated by a third-party logistics provider, demonstrating the flexibility of the architecture to coordinate operations beyond the original London estate.

The outcome

The result is a highly automated, intelligently orchestrated multi-channel fulfilment operation capable of supporting the demanding service expectations of luxury fashion ecommerce.

With IWS coordinating the flow across multiple technologies, units and channels, the operation requires minimal manual planning while retaining the flexibility to adapt as requirements change.

For a business where delivery is an essential part of the customer experience, the solution provides the combination of automation, orchestration and scalability needed to keep fulfilment performing today — and ready for what comes next.