iForce boosts workforce by over 300% as the online retail Christmas rush beckons

iForce, outbound-to-rebound retail logistics specialist for retailers such as Cath Kidston, Dunelm, Fortnum and Mason, Hush, John Lewis, Paperchase Sainsbury’s and Tesco, is gearing up for its Peak activity, preparing for the likes of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and inevitable volume uplift as online Christmas shopping kicks in.  iForce has around 750 permanent staff working for multi-clients around the UK and aims to take on in the region of 1,800 agency staff to manage an anticipated ten-fold lift in online orders for Christmas.

The hired agency staff will work for iForce during their busiest time of year between November and January, boosting the workforce from the regular 750 full time employed colleagues and a circa of regular agency, to over 2,500 staff.  With the workforce in place, and through site, processes and systems training, iForce is ready to respond to the huge uplift in online orders and returns for its clients.

Across the whole of Christmas Peak 2013 (1st October – 31st December), orders despatched were up by 6% at 1.745m orders.  The annual growth in despatched orders (01/01/2013 – 31/12/2013) shows that items increased by 23%, with orders up 9% year-on-year.

“Peak is a time that will test every retailer and supply chain service provider to the limit and with the right people in place, with the right training, it becomes a very dynamic and exciting place to work.  Our on-site training immediately creates a workforce that is, although new, raring to go and armed with the right skills to ensure that our clients’ customers receive their gifts on time and without any unnecessary seasonal hiccups.”  Brian Gaunt, CEO iForce.

iForce is the award-winning outbound-to-rebound retail and manufacturing logistics specialist in UK and Europe, offering three core logistics services, each underpinned by their dedicated software technology; SMART for omnichannel fulfilment, RESCU for innovative Returns Processing and Route Genie for carriage management. Founded in 1998, iForce has worked with top retail brands and its current client list includes John Lewis, Paperchase, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose Cellar. iForce’s systems, allied with their operational know-how, provide benefits to their clients that off-the-shelf IT software cannot. www.iforcegroup.com

iForce’s intelligent carrier management software system, Route Genie, comes to the retail marketplace following 10 years of development, multi million pound investment, and the robustness that comes from routing millions of parcels a year for clients like Waitrose Cellar, Paperchase, Cath Kidston and Fortnum & Mason.  Route Genie is designed and implemented from a retailer’s point of view, providing real operational efficiencies and exceptional customer experience. Based on a highly extensible architecture that copes with any volume or requirement, Route Genie is designed, both now and in the future, to allow retailer choice and reduce the overall cost of parcel delivery. www.routegenie.co.uk