The challenges for omnichannel in Retail and how to turn them into differentiators

15 六月 2022

An illustration showcasing retail digital shopping

During the Covid-19 pandemic, 3 out of every 10 consumers used touchless payment methods.

Forward study report by retail customer experience

The best version of omnichannel is retail

This pertains to the ability to sell a product on any channel at any given moment.
Omnichannel in retail is a trend that expanded during 2020. It went from a seller’s promise to a constant requirement and demand from retailers. This represents a considerable challenge for supply chain management in the industry.

Today’s best version of retail exhibits trends that simplify, improve and diversify the buyers’ experience, but at the same time poses a great challenge to inventory management.

Retail employees have close-up of a hand on a Tab which is showcasing stock sheet.

How do these trends impact retail inventory management?

Digital purchase and on-site delivery, 24-hour delivery, product selection with delivery on a varied destination, and touchless payment methods are just a few of the trends that enhance the user’s experience, and they all share a single factor: the constant improvement of inventory management.

To achieve this, retailers have invested heavily in technologies to support the implementation of the pertinent processes. However, the center of the operation must focus on management itself.

Ensuring there is never a shortage of a product sold online requires absolute precision, not only at the moment when the offer is tracked, but also in its origin. This way, if a shortage is predicted for any product with medium to high demand, the supply chain will be able to respond in real time and redirect more units to the region that requires them (Hub in transit).

To achieve this, traceability ‎360º visibility is a requirement for the supply chain, gathering all the providers in a single communications platform.

3 key elements to confront the latest trends in Retail

Demand forecasting - Beyond a sales forecast based on historic databases, this procedure implements the latest in artificial intelligence to predict regional demand and identify strategic zones in real time.

Inventory assignment with 360 traceability - Assigning availability according to the location and demand of any market is a fundamental requirement, since a market with constant product updates demands quick and flexible responses from the supply chain to cover the forecasted demand.

Flexibility and adaptability to change within the supply chain - Due to the short shelf life of electronics, it’s important to react in real time to any destination changes, inventory adjustments, or increased orders. The system must also adjust the last mile’s distribution strategy in order to optimize the inventory displacement within the local markets.

Moving into the future with Maersk

Aside from having the strongest and most effective infrastructure in Latin America and globally, Maersk has developed the technology in a point where intelligence meets knowledge to integrate the vast information from multiple sources into a single supply chain with a superior solution that provides visibility, control and effective decision-making.

Digital migration is the present and future of integrated logistics that allow a business to adapt and innovate in the face of every opportunity within the evolving retail market.

To learn more about how your supply chain can benefit from digitalization, download our e-book Supply Chain Management in the Digital Age for in-depth knowledge about: