What’s New?

In recent years, a number of new technologies have been developed to support and optimize the supply chain. To help retailers understand more about these offerings and how they could better drive supply chain efficiencies, Store Brands asked three experts — Steven Rodgers, vice president of business development, HAVI Global Solutions, Downers Grove, Ill.; David Deal, senior director of marketing, CHEP USA, Orlando, Fla.; and Dan Sanker, president and CEO, CaseStack Inc., Fayetteville, Ark. — for their advice.

Store Brands : In the last few years, a number of technological advances meant to optimize the supply chain have been introduced. In your view, what are the most significant? Why?

David Deal: Servicing the last mile of the supply chain has long been a challenge for both retailers and manufacturers. A new platform innovation, CHEP’s half pallet, makes getting product from the distribution center to the consumer more efficient.

Steven Rodgers: There have been many technological advances in the supply chain that primarily have been driven by mobile-oriented commerce demands and trends. Beacons are one of these technologies. The small, battery-operated, Bluetooth-enabled hardware attaches to walls or countertops and transmits messages or prompts directly to a device (e.g., smartphone or tablet). Beacons carry the promise of transforming how businesses and consumers communicate indoors and from nearby surroundings.

Beacons are basically GPS for inside the four walls of a building, site, event, venue, etc., that provide a conduit for personalized, location-based notifications and alerts. Real-time access and appropriate use of this very distinct data will help organizations’ supply chains in countless ways, including timely inventory management and replenishment, streamlined order management, improved demand planning and enhanced labor/asset planning and deployment.

Dan Sanker: Real-time positional tracking technology has rapidly proliferated within the supply chain industry in the last few years. The most prominent application of this technology is in shipment tracking. Mobile devices fitted with GPS technology are now cheaper and more accessible than ever. This allows for real-time tracking of each SKU as it moves through the supply chain. That provides an unprecedented amount of visibility that was impossible a few years ago. That visibility, if leveraged with the right people, process and technology, will become the basis of better decision-making.

Store Brands : How could the above mentioned technology specifically benefit retailers and their store brand programs? Please be specific.

Deal: Our primary focus areas with retailers and the CHEP half pallet are in-aisle replenishment, promotional end-cap displays and servicing small store formats. It’s all about efficiently and effectively getting product to the consumer. CHEP’s half pallet was collaboratively developed to do just that. Specifically, at the store level, reducing stocking time, decreasing store labor costs and improving on shelf availability are just some of the benefits. With industry-exclusive features such as four-way entry, CHEP’s half pallet is also ideal for moving product efficiently to small store formats. Companies around the world are successfully using half pallets for fast-moving store brand items like bottled water and bases for store brand merchandise displays.

Rodgers: With market share eroding and traffic waning due, in part, to large e-commerce competitors, retailers are taking advantage of beacon technology to help lure customers to their stores and create a one-of-a-kind shopping experience while driving intimate one-to-one relationships.

Retailers and many other consumer-oriented brands are employing beacons to provide customers with in-store product information and timely personalized promotions. Further, exclusive offers can be transmitted to consumers’ smartphones and tablets while they’re outside the store in an attempt to entice them to enter the store rather than walk right by.

More specifically, beacons can lead [customers] to specific in-store locations, displays or personnel to find products, services, experiences, etc. Additional exciting applications include the ability to:

• ■ Detect and verify customers who have pre-ordered their goods. Upon arrival, their items can be ready for them before they even reach the service counter.
• ■ Direct a customer to everything on his or her online order or shopping cart while offering complementary products, or perhaps alternatives or automatic reservation for anything not currently available.
• ■ Collect data about specific customers’ shopping habits.
• ■ Identify traffic flow and potential layout improvements while enhancing services and operations.
• ■ Track supplier activity and performance, and monitor deliveries and inventories while ensuring vendor compliance.

Sanker: Positional tracking is also used in retail stores. Retailers have started investing in indoor positional tracking technologies that would allow tracking of customer movements inside the stores. Using this data, the retailers can deduce information like store brand loyalty, aisle traffic, durations, etc. Large and small tech players are entering this arena, such as Apple recently announcing the iBeacon. This technology will allow retailers to show aisle-specific discounts and recommendations as the customer walks through the store. If executed properly, there will be ways to maximize sales and customer satisfaction.

Store Brands: What’s next? Is there any new technology under development that could be beneficial to retailers and their store brand programs?

Deal: As has been the case for many years, the focus on the shopper and reducing costs throughout the supply chain will be paramount.

Rodgers: To drive success and adoption, retailers need customers who want to use the technology, as customers must voluntarily download and install a smartphone app for it to work. Further, most retailer apps are likely to be unique, meaning that they will be in competition with other retailers and venues. This uniqueness can be a blessing and a curse as it drives store branding and awareness but could be perceived as limiting if not deployed and integrated properly.

Integration with key support applications and systems, including inventory replenishment, supplier management and demand planning, will be key for the technology to grow. Retailers need to educate supply partners about the benefits this technology offers and demonstrate the unique benefits they wouldn’t get otherwise. For example, suppliers can potentially access real-time consumption data rather than wait for nightly point-of-sale-data feeds to drive replenishments, routing and planning.

Sanker: Recent advancements in machine learning and big data have given us a new breed of predictive technologies. Retailers are able to build increasingly accurate models of customer purchasing behavior. This allows retailers like Amazon to pre-emptively ship items before the customer even orders it. Advancements in this field allow retailers to highly optimize their inventory and warehousing.

“Real-time tracking of each SKU as it moves through the supply chain … provides an unprecedented amount of visibility that was impossible a few years ago.”
— Dan Sanker, CaseStack Inc.

“Retailers are taking advantage of beacon technology to help lure customers to their stores and create a oneof–a-kind shopping experience while driving intimate oneto-one relationships.”
— Steven Rodgers, HAVI Global Solutions