Omni Market Network Management

The retail omni market demands the supply chain to be viewed from a network perspective where partners and collaborators from the manufacturer to the end consumer and all points in between are nodes in this network that are providing support to the end objective of supply to the consumer.  Each node has a purpose and provides value to meet the end objective of meeting the changing demands of the consumer lifestyle.  Each of the nodes in the network provides a specific value and the value of the overall network is the flexibility provides by the network framework to meet the end objective.  All members must be focused in the same direction and this network framework provides the flexibility to support the changing demands through an engaged and collaborative practice that brings value to all partners.

This network framework eliminates the silos of control and allows the members to focus on meeting the end objective through an engaged and collaborative framework that brings value to all members.  This framework encourages cooperation and participation in sensing and responding to the changing demands and opportunities.  This framework encourages participation to bring value to all the partners through collaborative benefits. Most of all this framework requires a long term commitment and even culture change to eliminate the silos and support open communication and engagement across the network.  All of these points bring the value and the flexibility to the network and all of these points encourage participation and engagement across the network to sense and respond to the demands.

The omni market network requires a type of business neural network that allows the retailer and the partner chain to sense and respond to threats and opportunities in all aspects of the omni market, from product lifestyle management to inventory and delivery management through shopping and consumer collaboration.  These types of activities were previously provided by sales clerks and merchants in the store and they have been largely overlooked and forgotten by the larger retailers in their drive to reduce costs and increase market share.  

The growth of millennials in the retail market has quickened the change and the growth of the omni market.  The large retailers have many of the pieces and parts already in place and require the network to connect them and bring the value.  This is where collaboration and engagement really play a predominant role in the network.  Collaboration and engagement provide the logical and physical network connections across the market and with the open and transparent collaboration the partner engagement will increase and the value of the network will increase.  This requires continuous review and renewal through the sense and respond process of the network.  This continuous review is prabablyone of the most difficult aspects though because it requires a continuous focus and without the focus the engagement and collaboration with die, which in turn will significantly limit the benefits of the network.

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 consumer's experience?  Improving the consumer’s 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?