Following our previous discussion on traditional retail brands and off-price retailers, another strong category of enterprises which managed to survive the latest disruptions are wholesale companies. These shops focus on selling goods in bulk to large families (and individuals) and small businesses. The most prominent examples are Costco, Sam’s Club, and PriceSmart. With smart investment in PIM solutions, all three were able to increase their revenue at a time of general market downturn.
‘Tis the season when supply chains are under pressure to meet customer demands and to keep internal business procedures running smoothly. Companies not optimizing their holiday supply chain and procurement processes are subject to risk. Disruptions, unpredictable demand, increased customer service expectations, and the need for faster communication between buyers and suppliers have made maintaining a robust and efficient supply chain a necessity.
Product Returns have become an accepted part of the shopping process for those retailers who have an established a digital presence, representing at least 30% of all the products ordered online. As a shopper, this sounds pretty reasonable if we take into consideration the need to try and test what we buy, but perhaps retailers can do more to reduce this rate. In comparison, only 8.89% of goods bought in brick-and-mortar shops have been returned during the last year.
In the history of grocery operations, electronic data interchange (EDI) may have been one of the game changing developments in the last 30 years. Of course, we’re a little biased, but we’ve seen how EDI has greatly improved back office efficiency, helped operations reduce unnecessary staffing levels, helped reduce the number of errors and even cut down on late payments for suppliers.
Amazon is currently dominating the online shopping experience, but here’s what retailers can do to keep customers loyal.
Retailers who want to work with large suppliers like Nike, Adidas, or other international brands may have their work cut out for them before they even get started. For one thing, retailers of almost any size may find they’re the ones being told what to do to a degree.
You can draw many conclusions from Amazon buying Whole Foods, and one of the more overlooked angles is how the deal solidified a long-developing trend: Organic products have finally gone mainstream. Amazon has already announced they plan to immediately lower prices on a selection of best-selling items, including organic produce, such as avocados and baby kale.
Most retailers are facing a shrinking operating “margin for error”. So it’s not surprising that many are looking for more accurate demand forecasting and intelligent stock replenishment. In a report entitled Market Guide for Retail Forecasting and Replenishment Solutions, Gartner analyst Mike Griswold spotlights seven recent trends in this area.
For most Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) firms and supply chain executives within them, we are operating in an age of great uncertainty amidst omni-channel fulfillment demands…..
A regular customer steps into your store to get a particular brand of organic cereal that she’s been buying for the past year. Failing to locate the cereal at the usual shelf and anywhere else along the aisle, she scans the store for someone to help her. It’s noon – peak period for just about any retail outlet – yet there aren’t any store assistants around. She leaves in disappointment and heads to a competitor store down the block. Guess what – a single moment of customer frustration could cost you billions of dollars.
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