Retailers and suppliers need to prioritize collaboration now

I had just done a bit of research on this topic and found the following from Kane Logistics: “Retailer-Supplier collaboration: Identifying and eliminating barriers to improve supply chain performance,” to be spot on.

Some consideration suggested by the research:

“For Suppliers:

• Retailers would like more contact with your sales reps so there are no surprises. No single issue was raised more often than having more direct communication.
• Product availability is a hot button. Retailers want to know what you know, when you know it.
• Improve your systems if you lag in this area. Online portals with detailed information like product availability.

For Retailers

• Your projections could be more reliable. Suppliers want to avoid inventory overages, costly liquidations, and other negative fallout from bad forecasting data
• Empathize with suppliers, particularly second tier suppliers. As a group, retailers are perceived by supplies as inflexible and heavy handed. Take more time to explain rationale behind decisions.
• Get better aligned internally to promote alignment between buyers and logistics staff.

Said one retailer: ‘For collaboration to have an impact, we need to go beyond just the sales rep/category captain relationship and allow other supply chain functions, like logistics, to work with their respective counterparts.’”

Read the entire article from Retail Wire: