Overview
Watsons is the international health, beauty and food retail arm of CK Hutchison, operating more than 12,000 stores across 24 countries and regions with 117,000 employees. Its portfolio spans health products, beauty and cosmetics, fragrances, daily necessities, food and beverage, electronics, fine wines and airport retail. In Chinese Mainland alone, Watsons runs over 3,200 stores in 438 cities serving more than 64 million members.
Challenges
Rapid Store and Channel Expansion
Continuous store expansion alongside multi-channel selling put growing pressure on regional distribution centres to replenish thousands of stores accurately and on time.
Manual Picking Bottlenecks
High-SKU, small-batch health and beauty orders were picked manually, limiting throughput at peak and creating mis-picks that flowed through to stores.
Uncontrolled Dock Appointments
Supplier deliveries, returns and store shipments were booked over phone and email, so dock utilisation and transport status were impossible to see in real time.
Fragmented Settlement
Logistics settlement depended on manual reconciliation between warehouses, carriers and suppliers, slowing month-end close.
"With a smart picking system at the core, our distribution centres now replenish stores faster and more accurately, and every inbound and outbound movement is visible end to end."
Regional Logistics Lead
Watsons Overseas Supply Chain
Solution
Pick-to-Light Smart Picking
Deep Insights deployed a PTL smart picking system in the distribution centres, guiding operators by light and validating every pick against the order.
- Light-directed picking
- Real-time pick validation
- Wave-based replenishment
End-to-End Appointment Control
Supplier deliveries, returns and store shipments are booked, scheduled and tracked in one system, giving standardised, visible dock and transport execution.
- Inbound & return appointments
- Store delivery scheduling
- Transport visibility
Automated Settlement & Collaboration
Automated settlement and process controls connect internal teams with suppliers and carriers across every link of supply chain execution.
- Automated freight settlement
- Internal & external collaboration
- Process compliance controls
Results
Faster, More Accurate Fulfilment
Light-directed picking lifts throughput at peak while cutting mis-picks, so stores receive the right goods on time.
Visible Warehouse-to-Store Flow
Appointments, transport status and returns are visible in one place, removing phone-and-email coordination between DCs, suppliers and stores.
Lower Settlement Effort
Automated settlement replaces manual reconciliation, shortening close cycles and reducing disputes with logistics partners.
Key Takeaways
- Pick-to-light picking standardised across overseas distribution centres
- Full appointment control for supplier deliveries, returns and store shipments
- Automated settlement replaced manual reconciliation
- One platform connecting internal teams, suppliers and carriers in 8 markets
