Retail Supply Chain Logistics

For retailers, the desire to see where stock is at every stage of the supply chain is born out of a need to have stock on shelves as and when customers need it.

But supply chains are notoriously complex, with thousands of moving parts all affected by real-world disruption – political, environmental, societal. As our Chief Data Officer Holly Landry says: “We can’t throw people at the problems anymore, they’re just too complicated and it’s too dynamic.” That’s why data, AI and machine learning are all playing an increasingly important role in delivering supply chain transparency and excellence.

Maersk recently conducted internal research with 100+ global retailers, and the lack of integrated data, joined-up insight and transparency is a macro and micro problem. Being able to see where stock is at any moment is crucial for the bigger picture. Retail lives and dies by its ability to accurately manage inventory, for instance. Our research found that 55% of retailers believe that forecasting and dealing with market uncertainties make retail inventory management a challenge in their day-to-day work. Technology alone is not a magic bullet, but in the crucial space of retail inventory management, it can play a huge part in making life easier for logistics professionals.