Gap opens new e-commerce facility with latest automation and robotics
This week Gap celebrated the grand opening of its newest Customer Experience Center in Longview, Texas.
The facility will help the retailer process an additional 1 million units per day over the holidays.
The 850,000-square-foot facility is Gap’s seventh distribution center in North America and its first in Texas.
The company is explored the use of AI to more efficiently manage returns.
Gap sees online sales representing 50 percent of its volume in three years.
Gap Inc. opened a new distribution center, last week, to support rapidly growing online e-commerce sales and to help the retailer handle peak season demand.
The specialty apparel retailer opened its newest Customer Experience Center in Longview, Texas. The 850,000-sq.-ft. distribution center, initially announced in February 2021, is outfitted with some the latest robotics systems and automation technology.
Gap plans to hire 500 full-time workers in Longview by the end of 2023. The payroll is slated to grow to more than 1,000 full-time roles in the city over the next five years.
The site brings major processing power to Gap’s network, with initial capacity for 1 million units per day during the peak season. At its height, the retailer’s network will now be able to process more than 4 million units per day.
“Peak season is now, and we know with peak season comes increased demand, increased hiring and increased opportunity to delight our customers. As we continue to deliver on our growth strategy, the launch of our Longview customer experience center is another opportunity to further unlock the power of technology and automation, evolve the way we work, diversify our business, and deliver an exceptional experience for customers. ”
The Longview facility is equipped with several forms of automation, such as an automated storage and retrieval system, robotic sorting and automated returns unit handling. The technology is part of a larger automation push by the retailer, including the current piloting of autonomous offloading and new “goods-to-person” robotics capabilities.
The company has also explored the use of AI to more efficiently manage returns.
The new center will supplement Gap’s six existing distribution centers in North America, including those in Fresno, Calif.; Phoenix; Groveport, Ohio; Gallatin, Texas; Fishkill, N.Y; and Brampton, Ontario.
Earlier in summer 2022, the company also expanded operations at its customer experience center in Fishkill, N.Y., adding automated receiving, multi-level pick modules, enhanced returns processing capabilities, additional residual shuttles, and new automated storage retrieval systems.
Gap says that it processes 1 billion units annually with a logistics workforce of over 9,000 associates that scales with seasonal demand. The retailer also claims an order accuracy rate of 99.8% and 99% on time ready to ship performance.
By opening this center, Gap is building on other efforts to boost its presence in the supply chain space in the past year.
These include the acquisition of Context-Based 4 Casting Ltd. (CB4), a New York- and Tel Aviv-based retail artificial intelligence and machine learning platform. The start-up provides technology that is intended to increase sales and improve customer experience through predictive analytics and demand sensing.
The specialty apparel retailer also focused a $100 million-plus investment in its fulfillment centers in Phoenix, and Gallatin, Tenn. on increasing speed, flexibility and efficiency. The expansions at the company’s 1.4-million-sq.-ft. facility in Gallatin and its 400,000-sq.-ft. facility in Phoenix now enables online order fulfillment for more of its brands.
More recently, Gap introduced a new offering called GPS Platform Services by Gap Inc. The hosted service provides supply chain solutions that Gap says meet the needs of direct-to-consumer and business-to-business companies across the supply chain.
According to Gap, the platform offers logistics & fulfillment capacity and scale to retailers looking to grow their brand and expand their operations. Specific advertised logistics and fulfillment capabilities include automated e-commerce fulfillment and returns processing at Gap fulfillment centers.
Gap Inc. offers clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republc, and Athleta brands.
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About Gap Inc.
Gap Inc., a collection of purpose-led lifestyle brands, is the largest American specialty apparel company offering clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. The company uses omni-channel capabilities to bridge the digital world and physical stores to further enhance its shopping experience. Gap Inc. is guided by its purpose, Inclusive, by Design, and takes pride in creating products and experiences its customers love while doing right by its employees, communities, and planet. Gap Inc. products are available for purchase worldwide through company-operated stores, franchise stores, and e-commerce sites. Fiscal year 2021 net sales were $16.7 billion.
