In today’s fast-paced retail industry, customer experience has become a key differentiator for businesses. With the rise of ecommerce and the increasing demand for convenience, customers expect their orders to be fulfilled quickly and accurately. This is where an effective digital supply chain comes into play, writes Julian Skelly, managing partner, retail, Publicis Sapient.
A well-designed supply chain can ensure that products are delivered to customers on time, in the right condition, and at the right price. In short, a seamless supply chain is essential for providing a positive customer experience and building brand loyalty.
The tech advantage
Pure-play retailers are setting a high bar, with big investments in technology that optimise operations and ensure timely delivery. As customers, we see first-hand the investment in Order Management and Logistics, with streamlined fulfilment processes, and slick picking, packing and shipping. But behind the scenes, there are equally big investments in the technologies that support demand planning, forecasting and inventory management. Real-time visibility into the supply chain can provide valuable insights for decision-making and process improvement and retailers are increasingly using Gen AI to analyse customer behaviour, inventory levels and operational performance. It’s an arms race of technology to squeeze out the increasingly marginal gains that are needed for accurate and timely deliveries to us customers.
The pandemic, with the rapid growth in ecommerce, followed by the challenge of Ukraine, exposed weaknesses in retailer’s supply chains. Retailers responded by seeking to improve resilience through investments in Digitisation and Diversification. The investments in digital provided better transparency, visibility, and connectedness, giving supply-chain professionals the ability to be more agile in the face of challenges. The global crisis drove retailers to diversify their supply base, increasing their options through a mix of regionalising, nearshoring and multiplying the manufacturing base. Each step improved the resilience but added complexity to processes needed to service rising customer expectations. Consequently, Logistics and Supply-chain workers are seeing increased pressure to deliver, dealing with a constantly evolving environment and the need to rapidly resolve problems. This results in burn-out and high levels of attrition in the industry.
People at the heart of supply chain operations
While technology and automation can play a significant role in optimising the efficiency of the supply chain, people are still at the centre of day-to-day operations. Despite the best planning and automation, exceptions and disruptions can occur in the supply chain. People are still typically responsible for identifying and resolving these exceptions promptly. Whether it’s a sudden increase in demand, a supplier delay, or a transportation issue, human intervention is required to find alternative solutions, mitigate risks, and minimise the impact on the overall supply chain. People also play a critical role in driving continuous improvement in the supply chain. They analyse data, identify areas for improvement, and implement process enhancements. More strategically, people are generally responsible for making the strategic decisions that shape the overall supply chain strategy. This includes determining the optimal network design, selecting suppliers, and identifying KPIs to measure supply chain performance. The increased levels of dissatisfaction reported by supply-chain professionals is therefore a real problem, with 56% of companies struggling with talent shortages.
A shift back to people
Recently, we have seen announcements about a shift to investing in more people to power the supply-chain. In the UK, Evri plan to hire 9,000 new staff to support the delivery of up to four million parcels daily. In the US, the number of job postings for supply chain managers on LinkedIn more than doubled between in recent years. This shift underscores the industry’s need for people to support customer expectations for rapid delivery. Does it signpost a shift away from the recent trend for technology investments or is it a recognition that the human -touch is still important – both for resilience and for employee and customer satisfaction?
It is clear that the move to increasing the number of human touchpoints acknowledges that humans are still essential for providing exceptional customer service. They are better at handling customer inquiries, resolving issues, and ensuring a positive customer experience. Human interaction adds a personal touch and builds trust, which is crucial for customer satisfaction and loyalty. Humans are also vital for maintaining adaptability and flexibility in the system: Supply chains need to adapt to changing market dynamics, customer demands, and unforeseen events. People can quickly adjust plans, reallocate resources and find creative solutions to challenges. Their ability to think critically and make agile decisions is invaluable in optimising supply chain efficiency.
Future proofing supply chain with people and tech
One thing is certain: customer expectations are going to continue to grow. Simply adding people will not be a viable long-term solution to meeting this. A move away from technology to a people-based supply-chain will be costly today and will not be scalable going forward. Instead, companies need to think about how to fuse technology and process to enhance the capabilities of their workers. Technology can be used to provide real-time visibility, automate processes, recommend next-best-action and drive better collaboration. By leveraging this technology, supply chain workers can work more efficiently and effectively, ultimately enhancing the overall performance of the supply chain. Hopefully this will improve the employee experience, reducing attrition and preventing burn-out.
Julian Skelly, managing partner, retail, Publicis Sapient.
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GUEST COMMENT The human touch in supply chain: balancing technology with people power
Katie Searles
In today’s fast-paced retail industry, customer experience has become a key differentiator for businesses. With the rise of ecommerce and the increasing demand for convenience, customers expect their orders to be fulfilled quickly and accurately. This is where an effective digital supply chain comes into play, writes Julian Skelly, managing partner, retail, Publicis Sapient.
A well-designed supply chain can ensure that products are delivered to customers on time, in the right condition, and at the right price. In short, a seamless supply chain is essential for providing a positive customer experience and building brand loyalty.
The tech advantage
Pure-play retailers are setting a high bar, with big investments in technology that optimise operations and ensure timely delivery. As customers, we see first-hand the investment in Order Management and Logistics, with streamlined fulfilment processes, and slick picking, packing and shipping. But behind the scenes, there are equally big investments in the technologies that support demand planning, forecasting and inventory management. Real-time visibility into the supply chain can provide valuable insights for decision-making and process improvement and retailers are increasingly using Gen AI to analyse customer behaviour, inventory levels and operational performance. It’s an arms race of technology to squeeze out the increasingly marginal gains that are needed for accurate and timely deliveries to us customers.
The pandemic, with the rapid growth in ecommerce, followed by the challenge of Ukraine, exposed weaknesses in retailer’s supply chains. Retailers responded by seeking to improve resilience through investments in Digitisation and Diversification. The investments in digital provided better transparency, visibility, and connectedness, giving supply-chain professionals the ability to be more agile in the face of challenges. The global crisis drove retailers to diversify their supply base, increasing their options through a mix of regionalising, nearshoring and multiplying the manufacturing base. Each step improved the resilience but added complexity to processes needed to service rising customer expectations. Consequently, Logistics and Supply-chain workers are seeing increased pressure to deliver, dealing with a constantly evolving environment and the need to rapidly resolve problems. This results in burn-out and high levels of attrition in the industry.
People at the heart of supply chain operations
While technology and automation can play a significant role in optimising the efficiency of the supply chain, people are still at the centre of day-to-day operations. Despite the best planning and automation, exceptions and disruptions can occur in the supply chain. People are still typically responsible for identifying and resolving these exceptions promptly. Whether it’s a sudden increase in demand, a supplier delay, or a transportation issue, human intervention is required to find alternative solutions, mitigate risks, and minimise the impact on the overall supply chain. People also play a critical role in driving continuous improvement in the supply chain. They analyse data, identify areas for improvement, and implement process enhancements. More strategically, people are generally responsible for making the strategic decisions that shape the overall supply chain strategy. This includes determining the optimal network design, selecting suppliers, and identifying KPIs to measure supply chain performance. The increased levels of dissatisfaction reported by supply-chain professionals is therefore a real problem, with 56% of companies struggling with talent shortages.
A shift back to people
Recently, we have seen announcements about a shift to investing in more people to power the supply-chain. In the UK, Evri plan to hire 9,000 new staff to support the delivery of up to four million parcels daily. In the US, the number of job postings for supply chain managers on LinkedIn more than doubled between in recent years. This shift underscores the industry’s need for people to support customer expectations for rapid delivery. Does it signpost a shift away from the recent trend for technology investments or is it a recognition that the human -touch is still important – both for resilience and for employee and customer satisfaction?
It is clear that the move to increasing the number of human touchpoints acknowledges that humans are still essential for providing exceptional customer service. They are better at handling customer inquiries, resolving issues, and ensuring a positive customer experience. Human interaction adds a personal touch and builds trust, which is crucial for customer satisfaction and loyalty. Humans are also vital for maintaining adaptability and flexibility in the system: Supply chains need to adapt to changing market dynamics, customer demands, and unforeseen events. People can quickly adjust plans, reallocate resources and find creative solutions to challenges. Their ability to think critically and make agile decisions is invaluable in optimising supply chain efficiency.
Future proofing supply chain with people and tech
One thing is certain: customer expectations are going to continue to grow. Simply adding people will not be a viable long-term solution to meeting this. A move away from technology to a people-based supply-chain will be costly today and will not be scalable going forward. Instead, companies need to think about how to fuse technology and process to enhance the capabilities of their workers. Technology can be used to provide real-time visibility, automate processes, recommend next-best-action and drive better collaboration. By leveraging this technology, supply chain workers can work more efficiently and effectively, ultimately enhancing the overall performance of the supply chain. Hopefully this will improve the employee experience, reducing attrition and preventing burn-out.
Julian Skelly, managing partner, retail, Publicis Sapient.
We deliver!
Our editor picks some choice pieces from the analysis flow and sends them to your inbox every Wednesday. Dedicated research report previews will also come direct to you. Subscribe for the emails.
Why not join us on Linkedin and you’ll get the best updates on our research and analysis – UK, Europe and Global – in your feed.
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