Retail

Vendors Strive to Make Software Collaborative, Workflow-capable, Easy to Use

March 19, 2014

Analyst Insight: Consumers now demand that their software solutions be flexible, configurable and are able to accommodate business changes without much business impact. Enterprise software vendors have been forced to shift their dated SOA and legacy-based architecture to more adaptable and configuration-friendly solutions that allow consumers to adjust to changing business practices and processes. – Dylan Persaud, Managing Director, Eval-Source

Rwanda Tops African Retail Development Index for Market Opportunity

March 19, 2014

A.T. Kearney

Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Gabon occupied the top five places of the inaugural A.T. Kearney African Retail Development Index (ARDI), a new study designed to help large, organized retailers determine where and how to best enter Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly growing retail market.

Will Ocean Carriers Scuttle Their Future (Again)?

March 18, 2014

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

It looks as though we're in for a year of continued economic recovery and job growth, however gradual. That should be good news for ocean carriers - assuming they don't undermine their own success by flooding the market with capacity, then engaging in rampant discounting to fill it.

Green Beer: Anheuser-Busch In-Bev Taps Into Sustainability

March 14, 2014

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Anheuser-Busch InBev has laid out a five-year path to sustainability.

What's Next for the Omnichannel Experience?

March 14, 2014

Chris Cunnane, Senior Analyst, ARC Advisory Group

Negotiating the Value of Flexibility

March 13, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: The sales and operations planning process has fairly deep roots in most companies. Research by SCM World shows that many have been able to extend the process across most internal functions. However, few companies have extended the process externally to trading partners. The incentive structure of buyers and sellers tends to set these groups at cross-purposes. Flexibility pricing can shift the incentives in a direction that forces companies to negotiate the value of flexibility. - Barry Blake, Vice President, Research, SCM World

Facing the Titans: Build Your Offense to Compete with Amazon and Walmart

March 13, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: The titans of business, Amazon and Walmart, are doing an awesome job of growing their companies and transforming the way the marketplace functions. They're innovating supply chain operations and how they are responding to the needs of the customer. They're creating tremendous disruptions that are forcing everyone to play catch up. Lastly, they are on the offensive. They are creating benefits for their customers at such a rate that all other companies are playing at a disadvantage. - Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins International

The Supply Chain Side of Foreign Retailers Operating in India

March 13, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: The issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian retail has been in the headline news over the past few years. However, little media attention has been paid to the supply chain aspects of foreign retailers setting up shop in the country. The entrance of new foreign retailers into India will have a positive impact on domestic retail supply chains, bringing in global best practices, technological know-how and strengthening the position of local small suppliers. - Viktoria Sadlovska, Managing Director, Prameya Research, & Lead Author of the Pragmatic Value Chains Blog

Retail Imports Expected to Rise in March as Retailers Begin Stocking Up for Spring and Summer

March 13, 2014

NRF

Import volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to increase 12.4 percent in March as retailers begin to stock up for the spring and the summer season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

The Retail Vertical Comes in Several Flavors

March 12, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: For retail, what's on the supply chain horizon isn't one-dimensional, purely best practice, absolutely the optimum, but rather a continuum of distinct models working within several different environments. From a supply chain vantage point, the best retailers are those who orchestrate supplier resources with their own, resulting in agility and responsiveness to changing situations and differing customer needs. - Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential