2012 has seen a big shift in consumer behavior and demands. Gone are the days of the true choice of buying in a store and taking your purchases with you or ordering and waiting. Now consumers want both, the convenience of buying it now and getting the merchandise now. The pressure for a retailer to manage this new consumer behavior is also changing the way that a retailer needs to look at their supply chain.
Customer centric supply chains are becoming more predominate with concepts like distributed order management and same day delivery becoming the new mantras of a retailers supply chain. These two ideas have the potential to be big game changers and may provide the tipping point in eliminating the distinction between omni-channel ordering and fulfillment.
Transformational as they are, these ideas are creating tremendous challenges for retailers to manage. Requiring faster access to data, true real-time enterprise inventory visibility, end to end uninterrupted supply chain processes, consumption of exponentially larger amounts of data, total automation of many repeatable supply chain steps and management by exception, many retailers are challenged as to where to begin with the customer centric supply chain, let alone how to implement across their enterprise.
Like the retail supply chain, the SAP supply chain has undergone many significant changes in 2012.
SAP has released enhanced solutions for automated store ordering, an area that seems to be undergoing a renaissance with new importance placed on management by exceptions. Join us at NRF to hear how Delhaize America leverages SAP Forecasting and Replenishment to support its in-stock conditions and align its inventory with consumer demand.
Also featured at NRF will be the latest release of transportation and warehouse management, where you can understand how customers like Liverpool Mexico, Indigo Books and Music and Harry and David’s have selected and implemented SAP Solutions to deliver a competitive advantage that optimizes activities through all layers of their organizations, ensuring that the perfect order is managed within their supply chain for delivery from any location anytime.
To learn more about SAP Retail at NRF 2013, click here.
