"RIGHT NOW CONSUMERISM"
RETAIL
Consumers are drawn to the “right now” mentality – anticipating a wide range of options, availability through multiple channels, and excellent customer support. As retailers, it means being able to centrally monitor your entire product lifecycle management (PLM) from intake to fulfillment to respond fast to constraints and disruptions and still deliver on your customers’ order promise. Meanwhile, compliance screening demands are skyrocketing as global retailers are tasked with navigating complex regulations, such as import/export laws, labour standards, and environmental guidelines. Integration and scalability have both become the crucial factors in streamlining operations and reducing costs in today’s competitive market.
Anticipating demand forecasts and peak season fluctuations while managing production benchmarks are vital components to your supply chain’s success as steadfast efficiency has become a greater and more immediate priority for consumers. With e-commerce continuing to grow in popularity around the world, more shoppers are taking the time to evaluate a business’ ethos. They’re craving increased transparency into supply chain and manufacturer’s logistics channels; wanting to know how their products are made, handled, and delivered.
For retailers, it means understanding and adapting every inch of their supply chain; anticipating peak season fluctuations and adjusting shipping workflows - from product manufacturing to last-mile delivery, including reverse logistics. Overproduction can also result from poor inventory planning and overstock; often resulting from poor data analytics. Tracking stock levels, streamlining procurement processes, and facilitating demand forecasting allows you to optimize your inventory levels, minimize any stockouts or overstock situations, enhance your order accuracy, and improve your overall efficiency in inventory management.
Your customers want short delivery times and precise delivery windows. Meeting these expectations with just-in-time inventory often means using multiple carriers. Automated carrier connections produce a streamlined, more efficient shipping workflow.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION
Balancing inventory levels while avoiding overstocking is the constant struggle. It ties up capital and increases carrying costs, while stockouts lead to lost sales and poor customer satisfaction scores. Today’s retailers need complete visibility over their supply chain - preventing costly expedited shipping by balancing inventory costs with freight expenses.
SCREENING ETHICS
Incorporating compliance screening into the supply chain supports sustainability and ethical sourcing initiatives. By ensuring that products meet regulatory and ethical standards, retailers can position themselves as responsible market leaders, enhancing their competitiveness and long-term success.
LOAD OPTIMIZATION
Retailers are rarely moving one order at time – often consolidating multi-order, multi-leg shipments. Grouping shipments and maximizing transportation capacity facilitates load optimization and consolidation thereby reducing the number of shipments required and lowering overall freight costs.
Festive Fulfillment – Supply Chain Innovations for Ecommerce and Seasonal Consumer Demand
Shippers and retailers alike are addressing changing consumer buying trends and rising above the competition by doubling down on service-driven supply chain value. Supply chain operations are re-evaluating their warehouse fulfillment strategies and adopting new order orchestration tools to help regulate costs and optimize warehouse order balancing by streamlining and automating workflows. Improving supply chain resiliency ultimately leads to increased customer retention, while reducing overhead and operational costs.
An ISV-backed shipping solution that seamlessly integrates with a cloud-based ERP, like Microsoft D365 and Intelligent Order Management (IOM) ensures shippers have the essential resources they need to optimize and automate their supply chain operation from start to finish. It allows businesses to run a smooth and transparent supply network, while maintaining customer satisfaction through timely order deliveries.