The retail landscape is significantly challenged today. With supply chain issues impacting stock levels, increasing volumes of returns and increased customer expectations in relation to online deliveries, local brands will have a hard time satisfying customers in 2022. As a result, retailers will find that they quickly need to adopt new systems and approaches to enhance their supply chains and meet consumer demand for a seamless and more personalised shopping experience.

Shipping constraints, labour shortages, and stock availability have dominated the supply chain conversation for the past two years. But are we about to turn a corner?

While we might be getting sick of the term “supply chain disruption”, as we head into the second quarter of 2022 and with one of the most challenging peak periods in history behind us, businesses are still grappling with many issues caused by the onset of the pandemic.

Many retailers have quickly and successfully navigated the challenges of the last two years and are now equipped with many of the right tools required to seamlessly serve their customers across whichever touchpoints or platforms they prefer.

As learned pandemic behaviours become the default setting for millions of consumers around the globe, brands have continued serving customers via click & collect and curbside pickup, simultaneously processing online returns in-store.

The ongoing pandemic has changed the way that people purchase and acquire goods. Soaring demand for eCommerce and increased interest in new ways of collecting purchases, such as curb side pickup and click & collect, mean that Australian retailers are now faced with the challenge of recalibrating their business strategy to serve an increasingly complex omni-channel environment.

Each advancement in network technology brings with it great promise of enhanced features, improved connectivity, and better security. However, the arrival of 5G isn’t merely about enhanced coverage, rather it delivers higher device density, lower network latency and dramatically higher network throughput or data transfer (speed). It is transformational for enterprise and industry workflows, none more so than for the supply chain sector.

Zebra Technologies, an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, has completed its acquisition of antuit.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the retail and CPG industries.

The modern consumer frequently over-orders: an eye-watering 30% of online purchases are returned on average – a number that’s more than three times higher than the 9% return rate experienced by traditional brick-and-mortar stores. One of the implications of this trend that cannot be ignored is environmental damage at the expense of convenience.

Major Australian retailer and wholesaler of footwear, Munro Footwear Group (Munro), has committed to a new $50 million state-of-the-art distribution centre at the strategically located circa $600 million MidWest Logistics Hub in Truganina, Victoria.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a dramatic eCommerce boom, altering the way companies do business. It has also changed consumer buying experiences, shifting the retail landscape.

New Zealand’s industrial property market has seen a steep rise in the demand for green warehouses, specifically warehousing that incorporates environmental initiatives. Given the built environment in New Zealand is responsible for about 20 per cent of New Zealand's carbon emissions, the focus on the environmental footprint of industrial property is likely to intensify in the coming years.

It’s well known that the Transportation and Logistics (T&L) industry is a significant contributor to global and economic performance. With much of our day-to-day activities dependent on the ability to trade and transport goods and services across the globe, the T&L sector has never been as important as it is today.

The eCommerce landscape is changing. Business leaders must de-risk their operations, prepare for large scale disruption and surges in consumer demand to protect the customer experience. Shippit’s own data shows that since September, retailers were already dealing with Christmas 2020 volumes every single day. And today, off the back of a 25% increase in online retail demand, Australia's parcel-handling system continues to experience delays and courier disruptions

Imperfect Foods, the leading online grocer on a mission to eliminate food waste, has selected Manhattan Active® Warehouse Management to modernise its distribution operations and support its rapid and ongoing growth.

The world’s leading air conditioning manufacturer, Daikin, has adopted Manhattan Associates’ Manhattan SCALE warehouse management solution (WMS) at its new Daikin Park distribution centre (DC) in Sydney to enhance supply chain visibility and drive warehouse operations.

From quick delivery to split shipments, the current eCommerce boom has put supply chains to the ultimate test – but it comes at a great cost to the environment. To combat this, technology will always be a useful tool to innovate retail operations for the better, and for the greener. However, on top of this, new customer expectations for sustainability are proving that today’s consumers care more about sustainable delivery than retailers may think.

As sustainability moves further up the supply chain agenda, Supply Chain Insights finds out how organisations can reduce their carbon footprint while increasing profits, efficiency and customer service.

Google Cloud has launched Supply Chain Twin, a purpose-built industry solution that lets companies build a digital twin (a virtual representation of their physical supply chain) by orchestrating data from disparate sources to get a more complete view of suppliers, inventories, and other information.

eCommerce fulfilment provider, eStore Logistics, has opened its eighth fulfilment centre taking its total warehousing footprint to around 120,000sqm across Australia.

The economy has shifted from an “employers market” early in the pandemic to an “employees market” today.

As eCommerce and ‘store to door’ delivery looks set to continue well beyond the end of the pandemic, many retailers are struggling to turn a profit from online sales.