Articles
Retail Rethink
Avoiding the Seasonal Overstock Trap
Seasonal trends come earlier each year, with the latest being “Summerween” and “Black Friday in July,” meaning sales events start earlier as well. With many consumers completing half of their holiday shopping during major deal day events, brands need to ensure they have enough stock on hand, even if that means building inventory ahead of schedule.
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The Cost of Disconnected Systems
Today, retail companies manage policy shifts, evolving compliance requirements, complex product assortments, and demand volatility at the same time. In that environment, disconnected systems are no longer just an operational inconvenience. What once showed up as a friction cost can quickly become a structural vulnerability.
Read MoreReal-Time Sales Data: The Missing Link
Despite progress in supply chain digitization, automation, and AI, one gap undermines sales efficiency: real-time sales data sharing between retailers and suppliers. This disconnect creates forecasting challenges, burdens inventory systems, and slows responsiveness at a time when speed and agility are critical for competitiveness.
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How to Conquer Seasonal Surges
Here are three actionable strategies that retailers can implement to help overcome peak season inventory challenges while building a more robust, agile, and profitable supply chain for the future.
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Big and Bulky Needs an Overhaul Beyond Logistics
The Mount Everest of delivery is the high-risk, high-reward segment known as big and bulky, where retailers can make more money if they get it right and leave their reputation in tatters and coffers empty with a few missteps.
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Automation: From Benefit to Necessity
Even prior to the pandemic, consumers were demanding. Since the rise of e-commerce, end users expect the ability to order what they want, when they want it, via the channels they want. Brands are adapting to this demand by offering curbside pickup, third-party delivery services, direct-from-social media purchasing, and a variety of other channels to cater to different consumer preferences.
Read MoreHow to Develop a Customer-centric Supply Chain
Supply chain variability creates hurdles to customer satisfaction. Prioritize the consumer experience by integrating flexible technologies and processes in your supply chain design.
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Order Management System+Online Store=The Best Customer Experience
A majority of buyers say they will abandon a brand after just one negative experience. Retailers must look at the entire purchasing process—from browsing and checkout through delivery and returns—as every interaction is crucial to developing a lifelong customer. Here are some pre, during, and post-purchase solutions an order management system (OMS), working in tandem […]
Read MoreCompeting in the Age of Instant Delivery
Much of the instant delivery attention is on startups spending heavily to acquire new customers, while grocery chains and big box retailers also compete for visibility in the space. The one thing they all have in common? Knowing that consumers desire convenience and want their online orders delivered within hours, if not minutes. Serious challenges, […]
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How to Ensure Delight in the Grocery Aisle
Fulfilling customer needs and maintaining their ongoing satisfaction remains a critical priority. Disappointing a customer doesn’t sit well with a retailer or store associate, and that sense of frustration is something retailers should be working to prevent, starting with the following strategic supply chain enhancements. Improve demand forecasting to reduce unwelcome surprises. Typical seasonal products, […]
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3 Ways Dynamic Pricing Helps Retailers
Dynamic pricing is everywhere. Just about anything purchased through Amazon has been impacted by some element of dynamic pricing. Surge pricing on Uber, toll road prices that rise as traffic builds up, and even concert tickets are using the technology.
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