Supply Chain Best Practices in Internet Retail Industry
Achieving Competitive Edge through Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Best Practices in the Internet Retail Industry
Introduction
The advancement of technology has redefined the paradigms of the accessibility to information. People are now more aware of their needs and the specific sources to fulfill those needs. There is an ever increasing demand for anything and everything and the way the retail sector is booming, the supply chain and logistics have assumed an importance never felt before. With the IT coming into this industry, it has completely changed the scenario as to how business is done. Effectiveness of Logistics and Supply Chain enables an organized retailer to move or store products more effectively. Efficient logistics management not only prevents needless movement of goods back and forth; but also frees up storage space for more productive use. So what are the best practices that are happening in the supply chain and logistics? Retail Industry Supply Chain – An Overview The retail industry is generally defined as a composition of companies that sell merchandise to customers and suppliers. In retail supply chains, the network consists of many suppliers that serve multiple retailers, and the retailers, in turn are served by multiple suppliers. The wholesalers and other intermediaries are usually present between the suppliers and the retailers, thus providing for a link between retailers and suppliers. There have been constant changes in the dynamics of the relationship between these three key players in the supply chain due to the continuous evolution of fourth major player that drives these changes, the retail customers. Through their spending habits, retail consumers have driven up the level of customer service that is expected. Consumer spending patterns keep changing with time and due to this, the focus in the retail supply chain has been shifting from handling customer demands through inventory levels to handling customer demand through changes
Supply Chain Best Practices in the Internet Retail Industry
Introduction
The advancement of technology has redefined the paradigms of the accessibility to information. People are now more aware of their needs and the specific sources to fulfill those needs. There is an ever increasing demand for anything and everything and the way the retail sector is booming, the supply chain and logistics have assumed an importance never felt before. With the IT coming into this industry, it has completely changed the scenario as to how business is done. Effectiveness of Logistics and Supply Chain enables an organized retailer to move or store products more effectively. Efficient logistics management not only prevents needless movement of goods back and forth; but also frees up storage space for more productive use. So what are the best practices that are happening in the supply chain and logistics? Retail Industry Supply Chain – An Overview The retail industry is generally defined as a composition of companies that sell merchandise to customers and suppliers. In retail supply chains, the network consists of many suppliers that serve multiple retailers, and the retailers, in turn are served by multiple suppliers. The wholesalers and other intermediaries are usually present between the suppliers and the retailers, thus providing for a link between retailers and suppliers. There have been constant changes in the dynamics of the relationship between these three key players in the supply chain due to the continuous evolution of fourth major player that drives these changes, the retail customers. Through their spending habits, retail consumers have driven up the level of customer service that is expected. Consumer spending patterns keep changing with time and due to this, the focus in the retail supply chain has been shifting from handling customer demands through inventory levels to handling customer demand through changes