Store replenishment that hits 2-hour appointment windows with carton-level scan visibility.

Store replenishment is the process of moving inventory from a distribution center, vendor, or cross-dock to the stores that need it, on the schedule each store needs it. It covers the freight network design, mode selection, appointment management, and execution metrics that decide whether stores stay in stock.

Store replenishment is the goal: keep stores stocked with the right product on the right schedule. Pool distribution is one of the freight models used to deliver on that goal. A modern replenishment program typically uses pool for dense regions, LTL for orphan stores, partial truckload for medium-volume single-store flows, and dedicated for the highest-volume stores.

Most retail networks were built for stable demand and loose delivery windows. Modern retail has tight 2-hour appointment windows, retailer scorecards (Walmart OTIF, Target VCP), and high SKU variability. Legacy LTL networks with terminal-based routing and limited visibility cannot keep up. The failure shows up as stockouts, backroom congestion, and missed merchandising windows.

On-time delivery to store appointment, scan capture rate at every node, dock-arrival accuracy, claim rate, and cost per stop. Sell-through and stockout rate are the downstream business metrics; the freight metrics are what you actually control. Warp targets 98.2% OTD across the network.

Warp runs replenishment across 50+ cross-docks across the United States with dynamic routing, carton-level scan visibility, and the ability to flex between pool, LTL, partial truckload, and dedicated as store volume changes. Most legacy providers are locked into terminal-based LTL or static pool schedules.

A typical multi-store retailer can be onboarded in 4-6 weeks: week 1-2 for network design and rate confirmation, week 3-4 for EDI and appointment-system integration, week 5-6 for parallel-running and cutover. Smaller footprints can move in 2-3 weeks.

Store replenishment is B2B; DTC is parcel. The two networks are distinct, but cross-dock infrastructure and visibility tooling can be shared, which is how omnichannel brands consolidate operating cost. Warp customers commonly run both on the same underlying footprint.

Pricing depends on mode mix. Pool is per-stop or per-pallet. LTL is class-based per CWT plus accessorials. Partial truckload is per linear foot. Dedicated is per route or per day. The cleanest commercial model bundles linehaul, dock handling, and standard appointment scheduling into a flat per-stop or per-pallet rate so you can compare landed cost across modes.

OTIF (On-Time, In-Full) is Walmart's vendor compliance framework. Walmart requires 95%+ OTIF on shipments to its DCs, with chargebacks of roughly 3% of cost-of-goods on misses. Hitting OTIF requires tight appointment management, MABD compliance, scan-level visibility, and exception handling that catches misses before they accumulate. A pool or cross-dock-led network beats terminal LTL on every one of those axes.

Target VCP (Vendor Compliance Program) is a tier-based scorecard rather than a single percentage threshold. Vendors are scored on routing-guide adherence, label accuracy, appointment compliance, and product condition, then placed in tiers that drive future order allocation. Unlike OTIF's flat chargeback, VCP penalties are per-violation plus the longer-term cost of falling tier. Both demand the same scan-visibility and appointment discipline.

MABD (Must Arrive By Date) is the latest acceptable arrival date on a retail PO. Hitting MABD is the table stakes for OTIF and most retailer scorecards. Missing MABD triggers chargebacks and inventory backups in the receiving DC. Carrier-defined timestamps are rejected, the retailer's appointment-system clock is the only one that counts.

Reduce the number of touches. Terminal-based LTL passes freight through 4 to 6 handoffs per shipment. Cross-dock-led replenishment moves the same freight through 1 to 2 handoffs. Fewer touches means fewer chances for damage, mis-sortation, or label loss. Carton-level scan visibility on every handoff also surfaces damage at the responsible node, which improves claim approval rates.

When the store knows the truck is 30 minutes out (because the cross-dock outbound scan fired), receiving staff can stage the dock and clear the backroom before the truck arrives. Without that scan, stores plan around 2 to 4-hour arrival windows and stage the same labor for every possible arrival time. Visibility compresses the staging cost into a single 30-minute window.

When at least one of these is true: OTD dropped below 90%, claims exceed 1%, retailer scorecards (Walmart OTIF, Target VCP) are slipping, accessorial spend is climbing, or the store footprint is growing into regional clusters. Cross-dock-led wins on cost AND service for clusters with 6+ stops in a region and 10+ pallets/wk; terminal LTL still wins for orphan stores.

Yes. Each store manager can subscribe to per-store, per-event notifications via SMS, email, mobile push, or Slack / Teams. Triggers include pickup, in-transit, cross-dock arrival, cross-dock outbound, 30-minute ETA, store dock-in, signed POD, and any exception flag. The "30 min out" SMS is the key one, receiving staff stage the dock at the right minute instead of two hours early, which is where most of the store-labor savings come from.

Stockouts cost retailers 4 to 8% of annual sales according to IHL Group and NRF. For a 100-store retailer with $1B in annual revenue, that's $40M to $80M lost. Halving the stockout rate through better replenishment recovers $20M to $40M+. The hidden cost is bigger: when a customer walks into a store and the SKU isn't there, ~30% switch to a competitor and ~22% pull out their phone and order from Amazon on the spot. That customer is now in Amazon's funnel for that category for the foreseeable future. Forward-deploying inventory closer to demand and running mode-flex networks (sprinter van for promo surges) is how modern retailers prevent the customer-to-Amazon migration.

Dock-to-stock is the time from truck arrival at the receiving dock to product on the shelf available for purchase. Industry baseline is 24 to 72 hours of backroom dwell while staff figure out what arrived and process it. When the freight provider, store management, and receiving labor are aligned, the store manager gets a "30 min out" SMS, scan visibility shows exactly what's on the truck, and receiving is staged with bay and labor pre-positioned. Freight moves from dock to shelf in 4 to 12 hours. Every hour earlier on the shelf is an hour of additional selling time. On high-velocity inventory across a 100-store program, that compounds into $5M to $20M of additional sell-through annually.

US retail shrinkage averages 1.4 to 1.6% of sales (NRF), a meaningful slice of which is freight-handling losses where product walks off between the truck and the shelf during unattended dwell. Carton-level scans at every node (pickup, in-transit, cross-dock arrival, cross-dock outbound, store dock-in, store-receipt, signed POD) create a chain of custody where every link has accountability. Combined with notifications that alert store managers the truck is 30 minutes out, freight isn't sitting unattended in a yard or backroom. Freight-related shrinkage typically drops 30 to 50%, recovering $600K to $2M annually for a 100-store retailer.

Yes. Warp delivers to the top 3 US malls (Mall of America, King of Prussia Mall, and South Coast Plaza) every day, plus top-tier mall properties across the country. Mall delivery is the hardest store delivery in retail because there are no docks, receiving windows are typically 1 to 2 hours after mall close, freight elevators require security codes, mall management requires advance check-in, and liftgate is mandatory. Warp captures every store-specific receiving detail in the driver app: dock door number, freight elevator code, receiving hours, mall security check-in process, store contact, photos of the loading bay. The carrier knows everything before pulling into the parking lot. Most legacy LTL carriers see "mall" on the BOL and the freight comes back rejected.