Experts say that retailers have to become more aware of regional economic conditions - even in countries where they don't operate - because ripple effects of sovereign debt problems, currency devaluations and debt downgrades can have impacts in surprising places.
"All supply chains are global nowadays," says Lorcan Sheehan, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for supply chain solutions provider ModusLink. "There's a lot of geography and you're dealing with fluctuations in costs and capacity issues. There are more people touching that chain, from manufacturing to the time it reaches the consumer."
