SUPPLY CHAIN
Disruption , uncertainty and the shift to e-commerce means retail supply chains are seeking agility in Industry 4.0 tech and innovative inventory strategies
WRITTEN BY : SEAN ASHCROFT
If one were to create a word cloud to capture the story of supply chains over the past two years , then ‘ agility ’ would figure large . Organisations continue to face unprecedented and ongoing disruption , uncertainty , and rampant inflation , which is why supply chains must be agile if they are to meet demand .
Few sectors have needed to be more agile than retail . At the start of the pandemic , consumers flooded online to find the goods they needed , and retailers responded by expanding their e-commerce capabilities . Online sales saw four years of growth in just 12 months , according to research from Experian .
“ Few industries have been more exposed to the volatility of pandemicera business than retail ,” says Lila Dorato , Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at MuleSoft , a leading API platform that allows businesses to use data to create “ connected experiences ”. “ In the early days of the crisis , supermarkets saw shelves repeatedly stripped bare by panic buyers , while other parts of the sector saw sales plummet after lockdowns forced store closures .”
Uncertainty still rife among retailers and customers - MuleSoft Dorato says that , although things have improved since the early lockdowns , there is still a great deal of uncertainty – both among
“ Retailers are reducing inventory and placing smaller , more frequent , orders with shorter delivery times ”
LILA DORATO SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SOLUTIONS ENGINEERING , MULESOFT supplychaindigital . com 43