Retail Coffee Meet was an exciting event which awakened our retail senses with our esteemed line-up of speakers and moderators who brewed up tantalizing ideas, rich experiences, and bold strategies in our three knowledge gaining sessions. Through this meet it was possible to unite innovators, influencers, and decision makers, which brought together the best in class from all retail disciplines.
Our second session of panel discussion was done on Flawless Supply Chain – An Important Growth Enabler. It was moderated by Mr. Manish Agarwal (Founder of RetailZip) and the speakers were Mr Karan Goenka (COO at Citi Style), Mr Arun AB (National Retail Operations Manager at Vedant Fashions Limited) and Mr Ranodeep Saha (Co-Founder of Rare Planet).
The facts Mr. Agarwal emphasised on are –
Plan, Buy, Move, Sell — these are important components for business – this needs a proper harmony and relay race to ensure the sales keeps growing and customer footfalls and repeats are good.
Technology & Infrastructure – as a big enabler – WMS, ARS
Speed and Agility is very important – right product, at the right time and at right place – this is very critical for sales, inventory turn & cash flows
Cross Dock vs Put away – fine balancing work is important to ensure proper replenishment and inventory control
Operations Excellence – Productivity, Transit period, Network, Peak & Trough Management, Perishable & Non-Perishable etc
Retail market in India has been sustainably growing for years, the reason being the unorganised sector moving towards being organised to a great extent. The focus of Indian consumers is rapidly shifting towards buying right, and inclination towards healthy lifestyle is also contributing to the growth of retail sector. So as Kolkata is not far behind to this trend. Kolkata is the most happening city, an entrance of East & North East India, with many retail stories of achievements to encourage and motivate others. The retail environment is dynamic today as it has ever been and a healthy growth has been noticed in obtaining or purchasing goods or services.
Supply chain management is a strategic approach that provides organizations to outsmart their competitors and boost customer satisfaction, said Karan Goenka. He also added to simply put it acts as an alternative tool to survive in the market, keeping customer engagement and transparency in payment in check. An efficient supply chain enables retailers to source goods at the right price from suppliers who can deliver them on time. It also allows retailers to get products to their stores quickly and efficiently, making them available for customers when they want them. The market is discounting the earnings growth potential of new store openings, store remodels, more productive merchandising management, and new supply-chain efficiencies.
Arun AB of Manyavar-Mohey, said that a massive presence in multiple cities across India, Manyavar Mohey is an enterprise that truly believes that its employees are their brand ambassadors. Inevitably, it becomes critical to empower them to keep a pulse on shifting fashion trends and consumer expectations, add value and deliver the best-in-class customer experience. The retail supply chain is the flow of processes involved in the production and distribution of your products. There are various discrete components of a supply chain, such as warehousing, inventory management, procurement, order management, carrier partnerships, and more. He remarked that they are excited to continue executing our strategic growth priorities with an extreme focus on optimizing their product mix, upgrading our in-store experience and investing in growth via new stores and infrastructure improvements.
Ranodeep Saha enlightened that supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product. It encompasses everything from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer through to its eventual delivery to the end user. As the global economy recovers, demand and supply continue to be at odds with each other. He even complemented that if we involve the use of many emerging technologies including big data, IoT, blockchain, and RPA to streamline operations then these technologies allow supply chain companies to cut costs, shorten delivery times, reduce negative environmental impact, and achieve unprecedented levels of automation.
Summating up few take- aways from this session we can say that –
Proper order fulfillment takes the organization of all the people, process, and technology needed to deliver an order to a customer. This includes everything from your online checkout process, payment provider, and order management system, to how you pick, pack, and ship items.
When looking at your current processes, start at the beginning. Make your online checkout pages shorter and easier to fill out. Use a trustworthy and secure payment provider. Your customers should be confident when they check out.
Now comes the part where you actually pick, pack, and ship the orders to customers. A lot can go wrong from the time an order is placed and then shipped. Many merchants struggle with this part of the process. It’s this area where merchants face the biggest inefficiencies and the most opportunity to improve.
There’s a lot of variability from one business’s supply chain to another, but call can find ways to optimize their processes through best practices, strategy, and integration. It takes time and investment, but it’s worth it!
