Customer demands contribute significantly to the added complexity, costs, and waste that retailers experience in their supply chains. While companies cite more flexible returns, faster deliveries, and real-time updates as the main drivers, new research conducted by retail decision-makers reinforces the urgent need to improve supply chain visibility.
According to Zetes, a lack of visibility is affecting organizational performance, and the main problems that are emerging are excessive inventory levels, increased waste, lost sales due to product unavailability, a lack of real-time alerts to minimize potential stockouts, and the inability to identify returned goods as available stock.
A study conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of Zetes revealed that 94% of respondents lack ideal visibility into events affecting supply chain performance, while 87% agree that a fully visible supply chain with real-time updates can give an organization a competitive advantage. However, nearly three-quarters (71%) say that the lack of supply chain visibility has had a negative impact on their business.
33% of respondents mention that the high volume of data and lack of access to real-time data are proving to be a challenge when trying to improve supply chain visibility. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are essential business objectives, and it is recognized that supply chain visibility could improve them by more than 30%. 42% of supply chain decision-makers consider waste reduction a major challenge.
“ Ultimately, the goal of visibility is to gain better control and unlock performance potential. As a platform for greater efficiency and network collaboration, it can be transformative. Without it, retailers struggle to achieve the major gains associated with improvements in waste, shelf availability, supplier performance, and customer engagement, ” says Amir Harel, General Manager of Visibility Solutions at Zetes. “ The key is to combine the bigger picture with pragmatism. In other words, it’s important to think big, but start small and then scale as the gains become evident. With the right knowledge of supply chain processes and how to synchronize physical and digital data flows between disparate systems, it’s possible to quickly achieve a return on investment with minimal complexity and technology investment .”
