Research By NRF Foundation And BearingPoint
According to a research carried out by NRF Foundation and BearingPoint, Inc., in order to stay competitive, retailers will be focusing on enhancing supply chain efficiency this year. The study, "Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2004, Forecasts for 2005," was at the NRF Annual Convention and EXPO held at New York and was compiled after researching over 300 retailers from different sectors.
This effort stems from the fact that retailers have recognized that in order to fulfill consumer demands in the best possible manner, it is imperative to optimize supply chain efficiency. Also, the feedback from consumers can be used to improve services and products and this can be garnered only through an efficient supply chain.
Key findings of the study include that in the coming year, 17 per cent retailers would focus on international expansion while 38 per cent would look at domestic expansion. Further in the coming months, more than 57 per cent retailers are looking at replacing upgrading their point-of-sale systems. Also, approximately 33 per cent retailers are planning to either redesign or relocate their retail outlets in the coming year.
There is an increasing acceptance of the fact that to enhance supply chain efficiency retailers need to adopt new technologies and programs. These help in enhancing the consumers experience and as a result boost returns.
Further, the study also proposed certain approaches that could be adopted by retailers to enhance profitability. These included increasing the transparency of the supply chain and synchronizing it with the demand network to enhance inventory management.
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