WHSmiths brought some relief to the crisis struck business pages with reports of solid growth despite the credit crunch and impeding recession. According to Gary Glessner, Managing Director, Vocollect Europe, it is companies such as WHSmiths, which are cutting costs not corners to weather the current economic storm that might just carry us through with just scratches.

"It is time for corporate UK to stop blaming the economy for losses and take a lead from WHSmith to cut their operational costs. There are few retailers that could deny there is room for improvement, particularly in the supply chain," he says.

Glessner believes that the quicker goods get to shops the quicker people can buy them — and the greater the demand, the greater the opportunity there is to use products as loss leaders to draw in shoppers from higher up the value chain. Sainsbury’s and Tescos are reported to be stealing market share from premium brand Waitrose’s, whilst stack-them-high retailers such as Lidl and Aldi are ringing in profits at a time when their traditional customer base is feeling the pinch perhaps harder than anyone else.

"The common denominator for success here is the speed and accuracy at which these retailers and the distributors that support them move products from warehouse to store. It’s lean and it is mean. Right down to the warehouse picking teams, employees use the latest technologies to improve accuracy and productivity to get orders out quickly and accurately," continues Glessner.

"It is accuracy that possibly counts more towards profitability than any other factor. It means every order loaded is complete; there’s no unhappy customer to manage, no cause for inefficient and costly re-deliveries and collections and no credit notes for products that are unlikely to make it back into the supply chain. It is not a miracle that is needed to keep businesses running through these difficult times, it is efficiency," he adds.
 

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