All businesses, to varying degrees depend upon supply chains, either directly, as a food manufacturer, supermarket or wholesaler, or indirectly via people, entities, information, and resources.
We’ve all seen how much we rely on regular shipments of petrol lately, and with the news scaremongering reporting on shortages of everything from toys to turkeys, businesses are focusing on getting everything in order, long before the big day.
How is it possible to evolve your strategies to meet the unknown challenges ahead?
Consumers are changing in how they react to perceived shortages. Panic buying charted highly during March 2020 and the record is still playing, and with the media fanning the flames, there’s a little bit of tension in the air.
If you manage inventory, supply and logistics, our Christmas wish for you is to retain your sanity, so here are some realistic strategies to safeguard your business that may provide food for thought.
Cut back on wastage with clear cut data insights
‘Recycle, reuse, reduce’ should be every business owner’s mantra as we settle into Q4 of another turbulent year, but there is a way to reduce waste that’s more of a science than just a principle. Now is the time to get under the skin of wastage and save real cold hard cash.
Data comes in all flavours and strengths, and at Orderly, we believe we have perfected the ideal blend. If you have the data to prove that there are products that don’t sell on rainy days, you can use this information to cut back on waste and reduce orders. Are no customers on a Thursday going back for weeks? You can discover if it’s a blip or a trend, and tweak your supply. Going into this Winter with the optimism of a 2019 planner could lead to waste by the skip load, which is why now is the time to get away to analyse data in a way you have never done before to affect your Christmas period.
For us, the joy of data is that it is an unknown puzzle – you can’t be sure which combinations of data are going to reveal the best insights. We love that. That’s why we layer data as part of our new Orderly Data Platform, which sits at the heart of our new sustainability scorecard application. If you’ve ever thought you might be missing an insight hiding in plain sight – you could be. Why not speak to us about it today?
Adopt (and shout about) your greener practices now
It’s a longer term strategy, but it has legs. A survey by Nielsen of 30,000 people in 60 countries showed that sales of consumer goods from brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability grew more than 4% globally, while those without grew less than 1%. CSR affects your bottom line. When you’re reducing wastage, you also need to be talking about that, and promoting your changes. We’re not ones for greenwashing – far from it – but we do believe that companies who are taking steps to improve should be rewarded with consumer confidence and increased sales.
Take a look at how we help Starbucks store managers across Europe, The Middle East and Africa to effortlessly forecast, manage inventory and reorder stock – with a range of features to assist them to meet their goal of becoming resource-positive by 2030. With Q3 Consolidated Net Revenues Up 78% to a Record $7.5 Billion, we like to think they are a great example of a business that’s reaping the rewards on both fronts.
Create better supply chain links – or switch your strategy
As a business, the efficiency your supply chain plays a key factor in overall business success. According to a survey by Deloitte, 79% of companies with high-performing supply chains achieve revenue growth superior to the average within their industries.
Maybe now is the time to make the move to D2C. With Direct to Consumer, you own the customer relationship, and with Orderly you can have specialised eCommerce and pick and pack technology that increases sales but also decreases production waste, for a win-win. Or, perhaps you need to get better control on Inventory Management.
Never has there been a more pressing time to keep track of all the inventory movements you may have, integrating all those suppliers, credit requests and getting full reporting in one dashboard.
If you’re already worried about the headache of Christmas, then now is the time to empower your teams with a new way of working. We are very proud of our suite of supply chain management solutions – which one is right for you? Take a look.
Christmas is a period where there may well be disruption. Whatever the cause, from a lack of drivers, new legislation or simply the broad umbrella of Brexit or COVID-19, business disruptions are unavoidable to some extent, but they can be minimised.
While we don’t have a quick fix to take deliveries from field to fork, we do have the software that can make the most of what you do have on order, to tie together your loose ends and give you and your consumers’ confidence that your business can still deliver. Speak to us today about your seasonal headaches, and we’ll find a solution that can be delivered before Santa even starts checking his list.
