OneRail and IBM Sterling Intelligent promising to transform omnichannel fulfillment with same-day delivery from store

8 January 2025

Author

Mateo Canarte-Toro

Worldwide Supply Chain Sales Leader, IBM

In today’s fast-paced retail environment, meeting customer expectations for speed and reliability is a critical differentiator. That’s why IBM is excited to announce a collaboration with OneRail, a leading provider of solutions in last mile omnichannel fulfillment, and IBM Sterling® Intelligent Promising to integrate OneRail’s delivery orchestration capabilities within the IBM Sterling Order Management and Fulfillment Suite. This integration is designed to empower retailers and wholesalers with smarter, more dynamic fulfillment solutions while offering a seamless unified commerce experience for consumers.

A seamless unified commerce experience

Retailers today face complex challenges in managing inventory across multiple distribution nodes, including warehouses and physical stores. The collaboration between OneRail and IBM Sterling tackles these hurdles head-on, delivering a seamless and unified commerce experience for consumers. By integrating OneRail’s innovative OmniPoint® platform within the IBM Sterling Intelligent Promising suite, businesses can use advanced decision-making capabilities to optimize every aspect of order fulfillment—from sourcing inventory to selecting carriers.

“Our retail customers want to expand order fulfillment capabilities to intelligently leverage their inventory across all distribution nodes, including store locations,” said Kambiz Pakzad, Worldwide Leader for Supply Chain Sales at IBM. “The modular addition of OneRail’s industry-leading last-mile capabilities to Sterling Intelligent Promising represents a significant step forward in helping retailers make reliable and accurate order promises that improve customer experience while reducing fulfillment costs.”

Dynamic fulfillment: Smarter and faster

OneRail’s OmniPoint data enhances IBM’s Order Management System (OMS) by automating fulfillment orchestration and last-mile logistics. Together, the technology intelligently determines the best location to fulfill inventory, the optimal shipping mode, and the most efficient carrier, all in real time. By integrating OneRail into IBM Sterling OMS, retailers and wholesalers can achieve:

  • Same-day delivery: Enable same-day delivery with a 98% on-time rate, delighting customers with speed and reliability.
  • Extensive driver network: Access a connected network of 12 million drivers to handle deliveries at scale.
  • Further cost optimization: Reduce fulfillment costs by using advanced decision logic to select the most efficient delivery mode and route.
  • 24/7 support: Benefit from OneRail’s Exceptions Assist™ team, a round-the-clock people-powered support system to ensure seamless delivery.

Real-world impact: Success stories

The power of OneRail’s platform is evident in the success stories of companies that have already embraced dynamic fulfillment.

  • Advance Auto Parts (AAP): Managing a catalog of 2 million unique parts but with fewer than 20,000 SKUs stocked at each store, AAP faced challenges in efficiently fulfilling customer orders. By using OneRail and IBM’s solutions, AAP gained visibility into inventory across multiple locations, enabling dynamic selection of inventory in real-time. This improved their ability to meet demand with precision while reducing inefficiencies. The result was a 98% on-time delivery rate, a 12% reduction in transportation costs, and a 27% sales increase for their 30-minute delivery segment.
  • Critical Part Delivery: AAP serves over 250,000 repair shops nationwide with time-sensitive auto parts, thanks to OneRail’s ability to dynamically match the right carriers and modes. The solution empowered AAP to meet tight 30-minute delivery windows, saving repair shops valuable time and keeping their customers satisfied.

Building the future of fulfillment

“We’re thrilled to partner with IBM Sterling to bring OneRail’s innovative delivery orchestration and fulfillment capabilities to their OMS suite,” said Bill Catania, Founder and CEO of OneRail. “This collaboration addresses some of the biggest challenges in retail and wholesale, including inefficiencies in order sourcing that often lead to split shipments, stockouts or canceled orders. Our dynamic fulfillment technology ensures a seamless delivery experience that fulfills the customer promise while optimizing operations.”

This partnership also supports OneRail’s broader mission to transform omnichannel fulfillment through continued investment in data science, machine learning and AI. By deriving actionable insights from the OmniPoint platform, OneRail aims to provide its customers with unparalleled visibility and control over their fulfillment processes.

What this means for retailers

With the combined power of OneRail and IBM Sterling, retailers can:

  • Boost profitability by reducing stockouts and split shipments.
  • Enhance the customer experience with faster and more reliable deliveries.
  • Use data-driven insights to make smarter, real-time decisions.

As the retail landscape evolves, this collaboration sets a new standard for omnichannel fulfillment, enabling businesses to meet the demands of today’s consumers while staying ahead of the competition.

Ready to transform your fulfillment strategy? Learn more about how OneRail and IBM are shaping the future of delivery.

Visit OneRail to get started