Retailers harbour digital supply chain ambitions
Only 15% of global retailers’ supply chains are prescriptive or autonomous, according to a new report from Blue Yonder and WMG, University of Warwick.
This covers 104 retailers across Asia (China and Turkey), Europe (France and UK), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Suriname and Uruguay), North America (Bahamas and USA) and Oceania (Australia, Tuvalu). It also shows that 61% want to achieve a prescriptive or autonomous supply chain by 2025.
As things stand, however, only 8% refresh demand planning processes on a real-time basis. 22% of retailers currently use spreadsheets for this process, but 74% want to switch to prescriptive or autonomous technology in the next five years.
At present, 61% manage omnichannel inventory as separate channels. However, 75% wish to achieve full omnichannel capability in the next five years, with 41% aiming to use AI to evaluate optimum inventory locations for each customer transaction. One quarter still use spreadsheets to manage replenishment analytics, but 46% are planning a fully autonomous approach in five years’ time.
In terms of pricing strategies, just 11% use artificial intelligence for markdowns, but almost half want to do so within the next five years And when it comes to financial planning, 7% currently do this in real-time, but more than a third want to be onboard with this way of doing things by 2025.
Jan Godsell, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy at WMG, University of Warwick, says: “The retail industry never stands still for long, and the impact of Covid-19 means it is currently going through a particularly disruptive period.”
“At this time, it’s crucial for retailers to be able to manage multiple factors and complications across their supply chain in real-time. At the moment, however, an over-reliance on manual processes means too many retailers are taking time to adapt in line with this unique set of challenges.”
“As the research reveals, retailers know they need to get their supply chains digital-ready. This will enable them to evolve and make adjustments, both in line with internal factors, such as changing organisational goals, and external ones, such as changing customer desires,” Godsell concludes.
