Looking ahead from here

 

Where did all the shops go?

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Retail is getting complicated. It is no longer a case of simply stocking shelves with desirable goods and waiting for shoppers to flock through the doors. Rapid developments in technology have changed the game, then CoVid accelerated that speed of change. 

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The collapse of Arcadia Group with its best-known brands TopShop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, highlights the challenge the UK High Street is facing as CoVid drives a rapid change in consumer buying habits towards buying on-line.

 

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Supply Chain

• Trend from off-shoring to on-shoring 

• Shortening and simplifying supply chains to reduce inventory, lead-times, enabling quicker reaction to changing product demand.

 

Logistics

• Drive to increase flexibility in 3PL contracts 

• Key to optimize consumer delivery through partnering, charging for delivery timing 

 

Channels to market

• The multichannel routes to market increase inventory levels across DC’s sores

 

Head office

• Key to accurate forecasting to provide rapid response to changing consumer buying patterns, trends driven by social media 

 

Inventory

• Effective ways to clear slow / obsolete/ returned stock 

 

Returns 

• Consumers expect free returns, often buying online multiples of the same item (clothing) in different sizes and colours knowing a high percentage will be returned. 

 

Omnichannel Retail

• Black Friday, has evolved into week-long promotions 

• Savvy customers are refining the delivery 

• Customers are shopping late and bringing the fitting room home 

• Free returns are driving extra online purchases, but increasing overall logistic costs. 

• The key is improving the end-to-end experience whilst balancing the economic performance. 

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Key Trends:

• Discounting / Black Friday

• Focus on Customer Experience

• Consumer choice 

• Tracking systems 

• Consumer experience

• Simplifying offerings

• Increase use of parcel allocation systems 

• Intelligent customers ( will search to find a good deal)

• Box size increasing 

• Omnichannel retail 

• Parcel providers, as important as “3PL logistic providers” 

• End consumer communication, scheduling and tracking.