Sears picked only the stores that made online delivery faster and cheaper

Sears wanted to move from vague five-to-seven-day online delivery promises to specific dates, without pouring capital into new distribution capacity. The tempting blunt answer was to ship from every store.

Instead, Sears built the Cheetah Network: a limited set of stores used as online fulfillment points. Algorithms balanced order completeness, inventory location, logistics requirements, picking cost and customer proximity.

SupplyChainBrain reported that the project took 75 days from concept to pilot and nine months to build out. Average online delivery fell from 3.5-4 days to two days, while premium transportation dropped to 10% of its former level.

Use stores as nodes, but only the right stores

The system used stores as a dynamic network, not a separate channel.

Limiting nodes made store picking practical and protected transport economics.

The order decision combined inventory and logistics instead of optimizing either alone.

Omnichannel fulfillment works best when stores are treated as optional network assets, not as a blanket mandate.

Sears was runner-up for the 2014 Supply Chain Innovation Award. The broader company later struggled, but the Cheetah Network remains a sharp example of ship-from-store done with selectivity instead of enthusiasm alone.