UPC and related technologies were originally conceived to support inventory tracking. They have unveiled consumer behavior... for those willing to gently lift the veil.
Sundip Naik, vice president of supply chain, innovation and digital services at Capgemini, recently made this case to WWD:
It is ironic that technologies, to listen to digital customer sentiment, have never been so capable and full of opportunity, yet only a small percentage of companies are investing in these systems.
Today, creating and maintaining a customer-centric supply chain is possible, but it requires the investment in listening technologies and building cross-functional teams to use the data. Data can also be leveraged in multiple facets to inform the planning process. Below are some key areas retailers should consider where data can be leveraged to help planning and process:
- Merchandising Planning: Analytics around customer behavior, market basket analysis, shopping cart analysis, cohort analysis and local purchase behavior analysis
- Assortment Planning: Consumes additional analytics around social listening, CRM and location in conjunction with merchandising and forecasting data
- Forecasting: Utilizes analytics around social, e-commerce, POS and market segmentation; Forecasting analytics can also provide early warning on products that are selling too fast and can provide obsolescence visibility
- Replenishment: Employs data to inform loss sales, percentage of orders fulfilled on time and real-time visibility of in-transit inventory using technologies such as GPS/RFID
Fundamental to making this shift is a matter of worldview. Does the "supply chain professional" focus on the chain... or does the "supply and demand executive" look at balancing relationships between push and pull... or does the "curator of demand" concentrate on serving constantly shifting flows? Is it a canal you own and operate or a white water stream you are rafting? Control or creation?
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