02.28.18 -- Expert Advice On Your Burning Supply Chain Questions

Retailers are poised to make major supply chain technology investments in the coming year, with omni-channel and personalization efforts affecting how those investments are targeted. Those investments will include better inventory optimization and planning tools, data analytics, and in-store technologies that can help enhance the overall customer experience.

The Retail Executive Editorial Advisory Board is back, this time answering your questions about digital strategies, customer engagement, facial recognition technology, and more.

About 15 years ago, I changed industries from healthcare to logistics. As I am an IT professional, you might think it was a jump from an antiquated, paper-based world to a high-speed, technologically advanced one. Actually, I've been surprised at the extent to which the exchange of supply chain data in the logistics world remains old-school or simply manual. 

Machine learning is key to the future of robotic item picking. But how will it overcome the three V's of volume, velocity, and veracity? The key may be in mimicking how babies learn.

Retail has changed a lot in just the last few years, never mind the past 10 or 20 years. In order to keep pace with today's market and be prepared for the coming wave of even more demanding customers, retailers must eliminate their old and outdated habits before they can achieve improved profitability, greater sell-through, and increased service levels.

Gaining a competitive advantage against retail goliaths like Amazon is no easy task, but it's not impossible. How do traditional retailers win in an e-commerce-centric world? Speeding up time-to-fulfillment is the key.

Walmart executives plan to announce a further tightening of their on-time, in-full (OTIF) policy to go into effect in April 2018. In a transportation environment flush with capacity, these requirements would represent a challenge to shippers and their transportation providers. However, in today's current market, characterized by historically high load-to-truck ratios, the issue becomes more acute.

This new guide demonstrates how e-commerce marketplaces are impacting global online shopping trends.

Last year proved to be a strong one for retail sales, and experts project even more growth in 2018. It's clear retail is at a turning point, and retailers now must make some hard decisions about which way to move in order to thrive. We're reaching the point where the customer experience can't get any better without taking care of the supporting enterprise foundation — and that means investing in technology for technology's sake.

Retail buyers and merchandisers are continuously tasked with sourcing new merchandise and comparing to existing products to ensure their product lines remain competitive in the marketplace. With multiple seasons and programs to support, it is challenging to identify new supply sources, review new products with existing suppliers, negotiate contracts, and confirm timely supplier production runs.