How To Build A Customer-Centric eCommerce Supply Chain

Access the Full Report: Available October 2020

Today’s demand-driven eCommerce environment is fueling a transformation in retail supply chains, but some retailers are falling short on meeting consumer demands. Most retail supply chains are not designed to meet the new requirements of omnichannel distribution. To adapt, retailers and logistics providers must work to create a more customer-centric supply chain environment.

In 2018, online apparel sales grew by 18.5%, making up more than one-third of all apparel sales that year. Consumers increasingly shop online as they might in physical stores. This is especially problematic for apparel retailers, where products don’t always meet customer expectations when they arrive. Customers frequently exchange or return products immediately after purchase.

But traditional supply chain networks are not often built for excellent service, McKinsey reports. eCommerce retailers are yet to achieve future “supply-chain building blocks” like end-to-end planning and information flows, node operations in omnichannel fulfillment, and sophisticated tools for process automation and optimization.

Starting by defining the fulfillment and logistics expectations of their target customers, retailers and their partners can adapt supply chain practices to focus on end-customer needs, with a new vision, new technologies, and new metrics for supply chain success. They can adopt new strategies to transform the way their products are distributed and returned, including:

• Exploring new fulfillment options
• Reassessing fulfillment center models
• Optimizing or adopting click-and-collect from store models
• Improving speed, CX, and cost-effectiveness throughout delivery and returns processes
• Exploring successful partnerships to establish customer-centricity throughout the supply chain

Q4 2020 eTail Report: ‘Customer Centricity in the eCommerce Supply Chain’

In this exclusive 2020 eTail report, we uncover the key steps leading retailers prioritize to build a more customer-centric supply chain. We start by benchmarking retailers’ maturity in terms of customer centricity within existing supply chains. Then, we focus on specific strategies around logistics, outsourcing, inventory management, and end-to-end data integration to determine what’s working and how retailers can improve. Finally, we look into key pain points and opportunities on execution of these strategies, with direct insights from supply chain leaders on how to make customer centricity a success.

Access the Full Report: Available October 2020