This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: 5 Ways Digitization is Improving the Retail Supply Chain.
By Robert Lawrence, freelance writer.
The era of digitization has arrived, with countless companies looking for ways to enhance, optimize, and improve their processes with modern technology. In fact, according to Gartner, 91% of all businesses are involved in some form of digitization.
In the complex world of the retail supply chain, digitization can help businesses enhance customer experiences, expand their reach into new markets, and even reduce operational costs. According to McKinsey analysts, companies that digitize their supply chains can also increase their annual revenue growth by 2.3%, and their annual growth earnings by 3.2%.
But how exactly is digitization transforming (and improving) the retail supply chain? Here’s your guide to the top benefits and opportunities of supply chain digitization in 2024.
How Digitization Improves the Supply Chain
Supply chain digitization is the process of turning previously analog supply chain processes, like tracking inventory or managing shipments, into digital alternatives. It’s all about implementing advanced digital products and services into different aspects of your supply chain to improve visibility and management, streamline operations, and increase revenue.
Digitization can include everything from using AI-equipped robots to simplify logistics and fight labor shortages, to accessing tools for process automation.
In the retail supply chain, digitization:
1.   Improves Visibility into Supply Chain Performance
To optimize the performance of a complex supply chain, business leaders need insights into the opportunities, roadblocks, and threats that are currently influencing their systems. Monitoring trends and patterns, identifying chances for growth, and spotting disruptions is often difficult when you’re reliant on manual processes and traditional documentation.
Digital supply chains, on the other hand, can give you real-time views into supplier performance, inventory levels, and more, giving you the chance to improve your operations consistently and rapidly. These tools can be crucial for reducing costs and mitigating risks.
For instance, the Oracle SCM Cloud solution for supply chain management offers access to end-to-end historical and real-time data for demand forecast simulation, fuel consumption analytics, and more. Improved visibility can accelerate a company’s time to market, future-proof their logistics processes, and even help them avoid losses.
2.   Simplifies International Shipping
The rise of the ecommerce landscape has delivered new opportunities to retailers who want to expand their reach across different markets and geographies. However, navigating international shipping challenges, like dealing with customs, finding logistics partners, and even tracking the movement of goods, can be complex without the right technology.
Digital freight forwarding platforms like Ship4wd can help simplify international shipping by giving small and mid-sized businesses a user-friendly dashboard for finding shipping quotes, booking FCL or LCL shipments, and tracking their products in real time.
Ship4wd serves SMBs exclusively, guaranteeing container allocation while offering flexible financing options and buy-now-pay-later solutions to adjust to the delicate cash flow of SMBs. Like traditional freight forwarders, they also help with the customs clearance process, organize pre-shipment inspections, and offer cargo insurance.
3.   Automates Repetitive Tasks
Managing a supply chain is often time consuming and complex, which is one of the reasons many small businesses have struggled to scale and grow their companies effectively. Digital supply chain management tools can help companies put critical processes on autopilot, freeing up employees to focus on other valuable tasks.
Solutions like Logiwa give companies access to a comprehensive environment where they can access automated ecommerce shipping software, track important changes in their inventory, and configure comprehensive workflows, even without extensive coding knowledge.
With the right technology, companies can automate everything from financial reporting, to tracking workplace analytics. There are even tools that can automatically notify relevant members of staff when issues with supply chains and disruptions are detected. This can help companies take a proactive approach to sharing transparent updates with customers.
4.   Enhances Supply Chain Planning
On a broad level, supply chain digitization improves access to data, ensuring companies can leverage the information they need to make better decisions. This increased visibility doesn’t just reduce the risk of errors and risks in the supply chain, it can also help organizations make better decisions about how to shorten product lifestyles, plan for demand changes, and more.
Businesses can access vast amounts of data in real-time, and use it to accurately forecast future issues, or opportunities in the supply chain. This gives companies more of the agility they need to rapidly adapt to changing market dynamics, and evolving customer expectations.
For instance, ShipBob’s tech-enabled 3PL solution helps organizations to understand which fulfillment centers they should stock, when their inventory might run out, and even how much they pay for shipping per order. All of this information assists companies with making strategic decisions on how to grow and optimize the supply chain.
5.   Upgrade Warehouse Performance
The digitization of the supply chain also involves the creation of tools designed to specifically enhance certain portions of the logistics workflow. Part of running an effective supply chain is having a comprehensive approach to warehouse management, designed to empower teams, and enhance the overall shipping and fulfillment process.
Digital solutions for warehouses can include everything from wearable tools that keep track of an employee’s location in real-time, to software that assists with automating processes like processing orders and returns. For instance, the ShipHero app comes with tools that help companies equip their pickers and packers with tech that makes completing orders more efficient.
It also includes reporting tools companies can use to track the performance of their top employees, deliver rewards to staff members based on their work, and more. With these resources, companies can improve employee engagement and performance, and pave the way for better customer experiences.
The Benefits of Supply Chain Digitization
Digital technology integrated into the supply chain is enhancing the efficiency, productivity, and performance of countless retailers worldwide. The right technologies can improve your decision making processes, reduce lead times, and even improve your financial health.
What’s more, some tools can give you the resources you need to expand into new markets, unlocking additional revenue and opportunities. If you want to get ahead of the challenges in the complex supply chain landscape today, the first step towards success is digitization.
