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29th February 2008
Waterstones aims to improve supply chain
Waterstones is hoping to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint by overhauling its supply chain.
The book retailer expressed its concerns over its current "administrative nightmare" but noted that its new consolidation centre should help to reduce its number of returns by 30 per cent.
Waterstones currently has a host of distributors and wholesalers who take books to its 323 stores via 128,000 possible routes.
However, this new model will see them taking products to the retailer's Burton upon Trent warehouse, thus helping to cut their carbon footprints by around 70 per cent.
Speaking at the Bookseller's Going Green seminar last week, Rob Entwistle, head of distribution at Waterstones, said that the new model would "massively reduce this complexity".
He explained: "Returns cost a lot of money, for us and for publishers. We believe 30 per cent of current returns can be recycled back into stores. We will always check if we can use a returned book elsewhere in our network of stores. Only those that genuinely need to be returned will be, and from one place.
"There are significant financial and non-financial benefits to redesigning our routes to market."
(c) 2008 Adfero Ltd.
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