September 14, 2022 
Retail organizations across the globe are implementing supply chain management systems to control the movement of inventories and maintain product quality. Effective implementation of supply chain management helps to differentiate various delivery terms along with the service offerings. It is vital for optimizing customer service and maintaining the cost of goods.
At different production levels, the supply chain management process streamlines the flow of physical goods. Be it the production line or the final execution stage, an efficient SCM system can be a game changer in transforming international trade and business. The warehouse management system simplifies and optimizes the retail supply chain management process.
Importance of retail supply chain management
Retail supply chain management plays a pivotal role in the success of businesses for several compelling reasons.
Manage Inventory Costs Inventory expenses significantly impact retailers, and effective supply chain management can help reduce these costs. It achieves this by improving demand forecasting, striking the right balance between purchasing, ordering, and storage, optimizing storage expenses, avoiding stock outs, and eliminating dead stock. Efficiently managing inventory costs influences critical retail decisions.
Proper SCM can help you reduce inventory outlays in the following ways:
• Avoid stock outs and high carrying costs
• Find the right balance between storage, purchasing, and ordering
• Getting rid of dead stock
• Improve demand forecasting
• Optimize storage costs
• Streamline order management
Avoid Stock outs
Stock outs, where you run out of specific items, are detrimental to customer satisfaction and profit margins. Supply chain management aids in dealing with stock outs caused by factors like inventory discrepancies, demand surges, delayed suppliers, or financial limitations. Reducing stock outs results in happier customers and higher profits. Stock outs can happen for many reasons:
• Delayed suppliers
• Demand surges
• Inventory miscounts
• Limited cash
Build Customer Trust
A well-managed supply chain ensures that products are readily available for customers, promoting satisfaction and trust. Conversely, stock outs can drive customers to other brands. Transparency and commitment in supply chain management foster excellent customer experiences.
Gain Competitive Advantage
Efficient supply chain management leads to cost savings and facilitates real-time responsiveness to disruptions. Small businesses can outmaneuver larger competitors by efficiently meeting customer expectations, making sales, and adapting swiftly to changes.
Retail supply chain management is indispensable for cost reduction, stock out prevention, customer trust-building, and gaining a competitive edge in the retail industry.
Retail supply chain challenges
Retail supply chains grapple with significant challenges, including global shortages, shipping congestion, and economic sanctions. The global pandemic has disrupted the supply chain, causing severe shortages across various sectors. China’s production facility closures have exacerbated this issue.
Shipping congestion in major ports has led to longer delays and wait times despite handling less cargo. Container ship capacity has decreased by about 16% compared to September 2020.
Economic sanctions imposed by countries like the US, UK, and EU on Russia and other regions are further straining supply chains, with no signs of abating. These challenges are disrupting the flow of goods and impacting businesses across the globe.
Five Components of the Supply Chain Management
It is not easy to handle the entire supply chain. You need to take control of the whole supply chain to get the desired outcomes. Let’s discuss five critical components of SCM that will help you understand its unique functions. These include:
(1.) Planning
Companies across the globe are looking forward to managing the resources that can help them meet their customer’s expectations. Planning is the first stage of supply chain management. This initial stage requires the development of metrics to handle the supply chain so that it is easy to control the costs and deliver quality products to the customers.
(2.) Sourcing
At this stage, the companies look for suppliers capable of delivering the goods and services per the business’s requirements. Supply chain managers can work to develop a set of pricing to process payments to maintain transparency and improve the relationships with the clients. Managers can combine goods and services, including receiving and verifying shipments and transferring them to the manufacturing plants.
(3.) inventory
Organizations must collaborate with multiple suppliers to handle the raw materials and product shortage during the production cycle. The supply managers are responsible for scheduling the activities necessary for production, packaging, testing, and preparation for product delivery.
Apart from this, manufacturing is one of the intensive portions of the entire supply chain, allowing the organizations to check the quality levels, production output, and productivity of the team members.
(4.) Transportation and Production
The fourth element of supply chain management helps organizations to ensure that the correct volume of products is manufactured. This is one of the most critical components of entire supply chain management. Apart from this, storing the finished products in the warehouse and transporting them from various warehouses is also one of the prime factors helping the organizations streamline their production cycle.
(5.) Return of Goods
This is one of the post-delivery customer support processes related to all kinds of returned products. It is known as reverse logistics. In case of damaged products, the supply chain managers need to work closely with the customer care executives to get feedback on the damaged products. The managers need to set up a network to handle the defective products. The more flexible the return policy, the higher customer satisfaction will be.
The Final Takeaway
Staying updated with the five components of supply chain management will enable you to handle the activities more efficiently. Leaders look at These essential elements of supply chain management while making strategic decisions. Each component is crucial in supply chain management for the vertical diversification of the organization. A highly efficient warehouse management system can handle all SCM challenges conveniently.
The global digital transformation and cutting-edge technology will help minimize the complexities of the supply chain, enabling organizations to maximize their output and gain a competitive advantage.
Looking for a perfect warehouse management system for managing all aspects of a retail SCM? Vin eRetail, an OMS and WMS software, is ready to enable multichannel collaboration. It helps marketplaces, retailers, and sellers on marketplaces sell products and services across channels.
