Lands' End's new warehouse system cut delivery times 20–25% after a bumpy week

What was changed

Lands' End's implementation of a Manhattan warehouse management system caused a one-week backlog across its distribution centers in Q1 2026, CEO Andrew McLean told analysts on the June 9 earnings call. The snag hit shipment pacing while the retailer worked its distribution centers back to normal capacity, and the damage was visible: total revenue fell 9% year over year and US e-commerce net revenue dropped 10% versus Q1 2025. CFO Bernard McCracken was careful with the framing — the hiccup hit shipment timing, not demand, and a portion of the deferred volume was expected to return in Q2.

By the call, the problem was already history: 'That is behind us,' McCracken said. 'We have completed that implementation and are back on pace and shipping on time.' And the payoff was quantified. McLean said the new system let the company complete and fulfill orders within a day — 'really important because that cuts down on our delivery time for a standard order, roughly 20% to 25%.'

Lands' End is part of a broader wave of retailers rebuilding distribution on WMS platforms: grocery chain Giant Eagle put Manhattan Active Warehouse Management into a fifth facility with two more planned by September 2025, Staples rolled the platform into nine fulfillment centers with the rest to follow by end of 2026, Academy Sports and Outdoors uses a WMS to power its omnichannel strategy, and Hy-Vee credits the technology with better delivery performance and distribution efficiency.

Why it worked

Cutover risk was real: even a well-resourced retailer lost a week of shipping flow and a ninth of its quarterly revenue during implementation.

Management separated timing from demand in its messaging, protecting the demand signal while absorbing a shipment-timing hit.

The prize justified the pain: one-day order fulfillment and a 20–25% cut in standard delivery time compound across every future order.

Peers' rollouts — Giant Eagle, Staples, Academy, Hy-Vee — show WMS adoption is table stakes, so retreating from implementation wasn't a real option.

What can be applied

A WMS cutover will bite before it pays: scope the stumble, tell investors it's timing rather than demand, and measure the delivery-time dividend afterward.

Aftermath

With the implementation complete, Lands' End returned to on-time shipping and expected a portion of the Q1-deferred volume to land in Q2. The company continues to operate on the Manhattan WMS, with the one-day fulfillment capability positioned as the durable gain from a rollout that cost it one messy quarter.