LESLEY SIMMONDS
RETAIL & E-COMMERCE
LESLEY SIMMONDS
TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF INDUSTRY STRATEGIES FOR RETAIL
COMPANY: BLUE YONDER
INDUSTRY: SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE
Lesley guides global retailers with data-driven strategies and innovative frameworks, driving transformation, sustainable growth and competitive advantage across rapidly evolving retail markets worldwide.
When it comes to omnichannel fulfilment, Adheer outlines three pillars:
• Know why consumers buy
• Invest in data and technology
• Ensure profitability
“ The real discipline is in making the right calls for your brand, your customer and your bottom line,” he adds.
Achieving that means recording inventory at every stage, using IoT tagging such as RFID and ensuring partners are equally tech-enabled.
“ Inventory visibility is table stakes,” he explains“ Imagine I have one item that can be sold across 10 different outlets. I can’ t afford to hold 10 pieces in each outlet, but I need to be agile enough to move it to the right outlet, in real time, to convert the sale— and do it profitably.”
It’ s clear the reward could be high, but Adheer warns:“ One broken link can exponentially erode the value of full visibility.”
Can stores really catalyse growth? For retailers, the challenge extends beyond strategy to real-time execution, which is where the physical store plays an evolving and vital role.
“ Stores aren’ t just selling spaces anymore,” explains Lesley Simmonds, Vice President of Industry Strategies for Retail at Blue Yonder.“ They’ re mini warehouses, return centres and growth engines.”
A store can lift nearby digital sales by 6 – 10 % if run well, though the new goal is to orchestrate the entire network— linking planning and execution, breaking down silos and using real-time data to manage inventory from deployment to returns.
“ It’ s not about being the fastest,” Lesley says.“ It’ s about being the most useful.”
This means adapting to varying consumer expectations, with some requiring same-day delivery, others waiting for free shipping and others valuing click-and-collect options.
The smartest retailers therefore pool inventory across channels, reintegrating returns quickly and aligning teams to these new goals. Automation across these channels, and within the supply chain, can also aid this transition- reducing labour pressures and increasing speed.
Lesley says Blue Yonder’ s platforms help companies implement such changes,“ showing customers accurate
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