Supply Chain

Research from Morgan Stanley suggests that inventory restocking may face sustained headwinds as companies respond to persistently high interest rates. The report indicates shippers are increasingly reluctant to rebuild inventory, preferring instead to run leaner operations even at the expense of being late on orders. Meanwhile, the enduring drought in the Panama Canal and the escalating conflict in the Red…

Whether we all realize it or not, there has been a shift in the force. We're changing our stripes as a consumer-based society. Where once choice was primarily driven only by factors like quality, price, brand affinity, and even endorsement, now other, larger existential factors are impacting how we make purchase decisions — namely, how…

The retail supply chain is undergoing a major transformation, driven by the rise of e-commerce and the increasing complexity of global supply chains. In Gartner's 2023 Top Supply Chain Technology Trends report, "actionable AI" was named the No. 1 trend. This reflects the growing recognition among retailers that artificial intelligence is essential for modernizing and…

The convenience of browsing products from anywhere, coupled with the ease of doorstep delivery, has caused a surge in online shopping. In fact, a recent report released by UPS Capital Insurance Agency, Inc. found that almost all surveyed small and midsized merchants (99 percent) claimed an increase in their shipping volume over the past two…

The stakes are high in today’s ever-changing economy, and companies must make the right supply chain decisions or risk being left behind. Navigating the complexity of today’s supply chain requires utilizing converging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), decision science, and operations research for more informed, data-driven decisions. However, leveraging these components…

It can feel, at times, like a game of dominos. When there’s a global supply chain disruption, like those we’ve been seeing in recent months on the Red Sea and the Panama Canal, e-commerce companies and, ultimately, consumers feel the downstream ripples. For those working on the inside, it’s nothing new. There have been plenty…

For some time now, many retailers have been exploring the use of artificial intelligence to enhance various aspects of their business, from inventory placement to merchandising assortments. However, the conversation gained renewed momentum in 2023 with the emergence of ChatGPT and generative AI. This increased interest in the potential of AI to transform retail operations…

The call for brands and retailers to fortify their supply chains with robust traceability solutions has never been more urgent. Countries across the globe have enacted tighter due diligence laws to prevent child labor, poor working conditions, and environmental abuses, ranging from the United States’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, to the German Supply Chain…

In episode 441 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Yikun Shao, head of supply chain, North America at Alibaba.com, a leading platform for global B2B e-commerce. Listen in as Shao discusses his professional background and current role at Alibaba.com (0:55), leveraging the organization's supply chain capabilities to empower small businesses (3:45), the adoption…

Demand planning uses available data and analytics into past market behavior in and around a business to predict the future. Without these insights, business owners could make inventory misreads, marketing mistakes, shipping blunders, and hiring miscues, all eating into profit margins. By assessing your current business performance and past order histories, you can anticipate the…