The retailer is the ‘face’ to the customer which includes the online presences through all online outlets such as the retail eCommerce site, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Slack, YouTube and any other sites that are customer facing and provide some type of direct interaction. This is important to the positive and productive relationship with the end consumer, however this relationship with the consumer is also dependent on positive interactions with all of the retail partners that collaborate to deliver a product and services. Remember to the consumer it does not matter if UPS damaged their package, the bottom line is that the delivery from the retailer was damaged and now how will the retailer react and resolve the issue?
The retailer is represented by many different participants in the supply chain from the raw materials to the end delivery to the consumer. Each one of these different participants is an integral partner in the retail supply chain that provides and support one to many links in the supply chain. Each one of these links provide opportunities to collaborate between the partners in order to meet the end goal of delivery to the consumer. It is important and many times very difficult to maintain the focus on the objective of delivery to the consumer. This is why it is important to develop the collaborative partnership with the members, or links, in the retail supply chain. The collaborative partnership allows the partners to focus on the key objective, delivery to the consumer, without diverting attention due to supply chain activities.
The collaborative partnership starts with the strategy and the partnership framework and guiding principles and this strategy and framework helps to ensure that the partners are focused on the key objective and don’t lose sight of the key customer, the consumer. This is important for any supply chain because of the potential impact that any one partner in the chain can have on the overall results. If there is a delay, or worse yet, damage to the shipment from an overseas manufacturer the impact on the retailer’s relationship to the consumer can be disasterous. The delay would be bad enough and if there was damage to the shipment or even quality issues with the shipment that were not discovered until receipt by the manufacturer it could impact an entire seasons sales and profits.
Do not discount the importance of the supply chain to the end consumer relationship of retailers. While the retailer may be the face to the consumer, the supply chain is the structure that supports and even encourages the successful relationship with the consumer. As the consumer shopping demands expand the demands on the supply chain will also increase to support the demands.
And now for the audience participation portion of the show…
ECommerce will have wide ranging impacts on both the retail and manufacturing sectors. How can you focus these abilities to improve the consumers’ experience? Improving the consumers experience will require a re-evaluation of the sales channels, the manufacturing channels and practices and the supply chain channels and practices from the raw materials to the consumers’ homes. In order to ensure and maintain success in this new reality you must harness the tools and capabilities in many new areas. How can you support these continuously changing requirements?
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