Instant availability of information via wireless networks creates infinite opportunities. Customers can at any time use Internet services via their mobile smartphones to look up and compare information about pricing and availability of products. What does this new competitive situation mean to you and your supply chain?

If you don’t have what the consumer is looking for in stock, or you have it but at the wrong price, it may mean a lost deal – he or she will check it out and just go somewhere else and buy it. From a supply chain perspective this can be killing as we get tempted (or forced) to bump up product inventory levels to avoid lost sales. It could also push you to adopt a lowest price policy model that may be good for the consumer but mean painfully low margins for the business. James A Cooke positions this well in his short article in CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, Jan 26, 2011: “Why Christmas will never be the same”.

In essence, your supply chain needs to provide better availability at a lower price in order to be competitive… So in addition to running smarter campaigns, loyalty programs and price guarantees, we also need a smarter supply chain to excel in customer service.

Yes, of course there are differences if we compare private label with branded CPG stores, consumables with white or brown goods, and fashion with grocery. But in general, we all need to intensify our efforts to achieve better forecasting, shorter lead times to replenish, and being responsive to what competitors do. On the flip side, information technology will also help us find new ways to handle these situations. If a product is out of stock in a store, a good multi-channel solution will aid so you can help the consumer quickly locate your closest location with the product in stock, and reserve it for pick-up. Or why even go there, as you can help the customer in store place an order via the eCommerce or mCommerce (smartphone) channel for immediate home delivery.

In recent years, leading chains have made it much easier for consumers to buy and return products throughout their networks. The concept in fashion is called “BAFARA” – ability to Buy Anywhere, Fulfill Anywhere, and Return Anywhere, and the enabler is a multi-channel sales and distribution operation.

The core is all about visibility; recognize your customers, track orders and make products available transparently across the network of suppliers, DCs and stores. This is a challenge, as we are too often locked into old silo system structures with separate software solutions and databases for retail stores, ecommerce channels, and DCs – at worst all of them carry their own inventory balances and their own customer information. The more pressure from smartphone shoppers, the more important it gets to implement the transparency required in a multi-channel operation.

Interestingly enough, we have seen this happening for quite some time in B2B. With centralized customer management and global inventory visibility we have created solutions that serve the customer with a broad assortment of products and shipping from the best location. Now is the time to revamp also the more segmented retail structures where a sale has strictly been made either via the local store OR via the eCommerce channel.

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