Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey



Similar documents
How To Be Successful In An Omni Channel World

BRP SPECIAL REPORT. Loyalty Programs Rewarding the Customer Experience

Meeting the Multi-channel Distribution Challenge

FULFILLING EXPECTATIONS: THE HEART OF OMNICHANNEL RETAILING

Specialising. in Success: Five Portraits in Omni-Channel Specialty Retail

Meeting the Omni-Channel Challenge with In-Store Fulfillment for Retailers

Annual Merchandise Planning & Allocation Survey

DESIGNING AND WHOLESALING

Leveraging Existing Business Data to Build Effective and Lucrative Omnichannel Retail Experiences

Presented In Conjunction With: Feature Sponsor

in person is the new personalization.

Shopatron ebook 4 Compelling Cases for Ship-from-Store. Shopatron ebook 4 Compelling Cases for Ship-from-Store 2014 Shopatron, Inc.

Four distribution strategies for extending ERP to boost business performance

Achieving Profitability In An Omni- Channel Fulfillment Model Executive Perspective

E-Fulfillment Trends Report

SPORTING GOOD RETAILERS ebook

The Shopatron Omni-Channel Playbook

CLOUD SOURCING FOR AN OMNI-CHANNEL WORLD

Exclusive new survey findings point to the priorities and investments retailers are planning for over the next 36 months. Forward-looking results

IBM Commerce by CrossView, Order Management Order management in the cloud. IBM Commerce by CrossView, Order Management 1

I-Track Software. A state of the art production and warehouse management system designed for Food and Beverage Manufacturers. Overview 2.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW SAS MERCHANDISE INTELLIGENCE. Make the right decisions through every stage of the merchandise life cycle

Is it Time to Purchase a Fashion Enterprise Solution?

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! ebook

HOW TO TURN 9 RETAIL IT CHALLENGES INTO 9 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

OMNICHANNEL OPERATIONS BRANCHING OUT IN THE NEW RETAIL ECOSYSTEM

Information-Driven Transformation in Retail with the Enterprise Data Hub Accelerator

Between December 2009 and January 2010, Aberdeen surveyed

The Future of Omni-Channel in the New World of Retail

Buy anywhere, Fulfill anywhere

Lead the Retail Revolution.

Viewpoint on the Canadian Retailing Sector

4 Ways Retailers Can Beat the Competition. (With Data They Already Have)

How To Be Successful In A Cross Channel Retailing

ANNUAL SURVEY 2015 E-COMMERCE SURVEY. Gold sponsor:

How To Be An Integrated Omnichannel Retailer

T r a n s f o r m i ng Manufacturing w ith the I n t e r n e t o f Things

Order Management Strategies for Efficiency and Growth

Top 5 Transformative Analytics Applications in Retail

When did you first build your current ecommerce platform? Or when did you last upgrade or replatform?

for Retail One solution connects retail end-to-end, driving growth and fostering customer relationships.

CONSULTING FOR THE MIDDLE MARKET

TRADITIONAL ERP ERP FOR ECOMMERCE?

Top 10 Issues to Consider When Evaluating a Multi-Channel Management Platform. Steve Weber President and CEO sweber@nchannel.com

CASE-IN-POINT: AVAYA'S SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMATION - ENABLED BY A VISION FOR PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND TECHNOLOGY

Understanding the Real Impact of Social Media Monitoring on the Value Chain

cgi.com/retail 1 Omni-Commerce: Today s Imperative for Retail Success

Reduce your markdowns. 7 ways to maintain your margins by aligning supply and demand

Digital Shopping Behavior in an Internet of Everything World Top Insights and Actions from Cisco Consulting Research

Omni-Channel Logistics

Multi-channel Retailing Goes Mainstream

Magento and Microsoft Dynamics GP: Make the Most of Selling Online

ENABLING THE OMNI-CHANNEL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: BUY, FULFILL & SERVICE FROM ANYWHERE

Shopping Trends for the 2015 Holiday Season and Beyond BRP INSIGHTS. By Ken Morris, Principal, Boston Retail Partners

Integrating Your ERP and MES to Improve Operations

OMNI-CHANNEL NEEDS OMNI-SECURITY

BRINGING STORE PERFORMANCE INTO FOCUS

Omni-Channel Central Solutions

Client focused. Results driven. Ciber Retail Solutions

RESEARCH NOTE NETSUITE S IMPACT ON MANUFACTURING COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Steel supply chain transformation challenges Key learnings

Deliver a Better Digital Customer Experience Through Sonata s Digital Engagement Solutions

The Operational Implications of Omnichannel Retailing

Aptos: Engaging Customers Differently

How To Use Big Data To Help A Retailer

Winning in Retail in the next decade. Turn Showroomers and Digital Shoppers into Omnichannel advocates

Managing Growth in an Omni-Channel World

The Brains Behind Omnichannel Retailing

Retail 2020 Challenges: Collaborating for Growth through Supply Chain Efficiencies. Jeff Holmes Managing Director, Retail and Consumer PwC

Thought Leadership White Paper. Omni-channel transforms retail transactions

The Visible Store Data Platform for Retail Excellence

Changing Consumer Behaviors are Re-Casting the Role of the Store Associate

Business Process Services. White Paper. Redesigning Retail Operations: A Digitally Connected Supply Chain for Accelerated Performance

OMNICHANNEL OPERATIONS: TWO STEPS TO SURVIVE AND WIN

GETTING TO OMNI CHANNEL

Omnichannel Strategy Adoption At Tipping Point, Marketers Share Action Plans

Be Direct: Why A Direct-To- Consumer Online Channel Is Right For Your Business

RETAIL MOVING ON CLOUD

Maximize Sales and Margins with Comprehensive Customer Analytics

Aligning Order and Fulfillment Channels June Sponsored by: Conducted by: On behalf of:

February 16th, 2012 Prague. Smarter Commerce. Robert Mahr. Leader Smarter Commerce CEE & RCIS

Guide. Omni-Channel Order Management

4 Retail Marketing Challenges. (and how to rise above them)

Holistic Supply Chain Management A Focused Approach to Supply Chain Management through the Lens of Working Capital Management

Creating a supply chain control tower in the high-tech industry

Why Professional Services Firms Need an Integrated ERP Solution

Martec International. Understanding Retail E-Learning Course

New Software Strategies for Omnichannel Order Fulfillment

Supply Chains: From Inside-Out to Outside-In

Accenture Perfect CPG Analytics. End-to-end analytics services for fact-based business decisions and high-performing execution

Finding the Right ERP to Your Business IMAGERY

Your Last Traditional POS

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE MATURITY AND THE QUEST FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

A Single Commerce Platform for Omnichannel Retailing

Magento and Microsoft Dynamics GP: Make the Most of Selling Online. Co-Fou nder and V P, Sales

RETAIL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS. Maximising Inventory Efficiency

Vehicle Sales Management

Big Data Analytics in B2B Ecommerce - Making Big Decisions

8 Crucial Requirements for Supply Chain Optimization

4 Key Tools for Managing Shortened Customer Lead Times & Demand Volatility

Transcription:

2013 Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey

2 Welcome to the Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey by Boston Retail Partners! The retail world continues to change and evolve, with retailers battling for customers across channels and even across the supply chain. Brickand-mortar retailing will surely include more showrooming in the future, as consumers cross channels more easily and readily, but maybe not in the traditional sense of the word. To beat the competition, savvy retailers will showroom products in their stores for customers to purchase in a scan-and-deliver model. Customers walk the floor, select a product they like, simply scan the item and pay through their smartphones, and the product will be delivered the same or next day to their doors. All of this will take place in the store without the customer ever checking out. The real competition for many traditional retailers are online giants such as Amazon and Google. They are attempting to disintermediate retailers right out of the supply chain in other segments, just as they have done with books, software and games. So, how can brick-andmortar retailers win? The simple fact is that most retail is theater, and a retailer s key weapon in this battle is the store. Retailers need to prepare for the coming challenge by matching supply chain metrics and leveraging their physical stores as the stage in this production. The disintermediation of retail changes the playing field for retailers, and it is within this environment that Boston Retail Partners (BRP) releases the results of our Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey. BRP had a number of goals in creating this survey. We wanted our participants to quantify their directions for growth to see where companies are focusing their efforts. We sought to assess the impact of and the progress toward an omni-channel world while understanding other important areas, including retailer integration with suppliers, types of planning utilized within the supply chain, the current practices and challenges within reverse logistics, and current global sourcing decisions and initiatives. This survey consisted of responses from supply chain professionals, from senior director up to CEO. Categories included hard and soft specialty, grocery, food, beverage, convenience and fuel, general merchandise, office supply, and resort retailers. The majority of participants said their organization s annual gross revenue fell between $100 million and $500 million per year, with the largest having sales in excess of $10 billion per year. Boston Retail Partners is proud to present the results of our Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey, and we hope you enjoy reading it.

3 Contents Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 5 State of the Industry 6 Information Technology Adoption 6 Supply Chain Execution Software 6 Sales Growth 6 Infrastructure Investment 7 Channel Expansion 7 Integrated Omni-Channel Capabilities 8 Location Planning 8 Item Receipt Flow Plan 9 Inventory Allocation 9 Cross-Channel Fulfillment 9 Conclusion 10 Supply Chain Visibility 11 Order-to-Ship Commitments for Direct-to-Consumer Orders 12 Reverse Logistics and Fulfill from Point of Return 13 Conclusion 13 Collaborative Vendor Management 14 Planning and Supply Chain Collaboration 14 Supplier Catalog 14 Supplier Information 15 Lean Supply Chain Initiatives and Sourcing 15 Product Customization 16 Conclusion 17 Future Trends 18

4 Executive Summary Conquering Supply Chain transformation a must for future survival moving from self-sufficiency to collaborative networks. In 2013, 80% of American consumers indicate they re more likely to become loyal to retailers who provide a seamless shopping experience across all devices and formats from in-store to smartphone to computer to tablet. NCR Research It s not surprising that every retail organization continues to focus on channel expansion to deliver sales growth. However, consumers are becoming exponentially more demanding, and now expect retailers to be prepared to deliver new services that will meet their evolving needs. This presents a supply chain challenge that must be addressed head-on for future survival. As investments in systems are being made, it is critical that key capabilities for future success are included in any technology decision. Each organization must be mindful of this and define its individual vision for Integrated Omni- Channel Capabilities, Supply Chain Visibility and Collaborative Vendor Management. These three areas are key catalysts for supply chain transformation and should be carefully assessed. In the pages that follow, these three areas will be examined in further detail as we address current trends in the industry and explore the future trends driving the industry to reexamine current supply chain initiatives. Consumers are becoming exponentially more demanding, and now expect retailers to be prepared to deliver new services that will meet their evolving needs.

5 Introduction Brick-and-mortar retailing is far from dead! Shopping is about entertainment as well as acquisition. Visual presentation allows people to build desires as well as fulfill them. It encompasses exploration, learning and social interaction. But to survive, brick-and-mortar retailers need to embrace the world of omnichannel and build customer- and supplier-facing infrastructure, processes and systems. Omni-channel is becoming increasingly important as customer expectations evolve. Now more than ever, the average consumer expects speed, ease of transaction, and shopping/delivery options suited to his or her needs. Focusing on operational components such as supply chain and vendor management are all key parts of ensuring the successful implementation of an integrated omni-channel model. The future presents a number of amazing opportunities, and every retailer will need to carefully define its transformational roadmap to thrive. The paper that follows addresses some of the key areas of focus for retailers in the industry today: State of the Industry Integrated Omni-Channel Capabilities Supply Chain Visibility Collaborative Vendor Management Future Trends

6 State of the Industry Information Technology Adoption The retail industry is not generally considered technologically innovative overall, retailers consider themselves mainstream adopters, and BRP has marked this trend over the past few years in our Annual POS Benchmarking Survey. The respondents in this Annual Supply Chain Benchmark Survey generally fell into the same categories, although a few more retailers identified themselves as innovators. Perhaps these are a few of the retailers on the leading edge of supply chain innovation. (Exhibit 1) Supply Chain Execution Software The tools retailers are using vary among a wide group of vendors, including SAP, Oracle, JDA and Epicor, with Manhattan Associates software implemented in slightly more retailers to assist with their supply chain execution. (Exhibit 2) Sales Growth Retailers are consistently focused on growing their business, with very few retailers a pure Other SAP Oracle Innovator Custom Early Adopter Mainstream Adopter Cloudbased Sterling Supply Chain Execution Software Tools JDA Slow Adopter Late Adopter RedPrairie Manhattan Associates Epicor Exhibit 1 Exhibit 2

7 play in any one channel anymore. Most companies in this year s Supply Chain Survey have a primary presence in conventional brickand-mortar stores with a secondary focus on the Web as a separate channel. The majority of the participants in this year s Supply Chain Survey are companies with their roots in conventional brick-and-mortar stores. True to their history, our respondents expect the majority of their growth will continue through the increase of their traditional store footprint, with a much smaller contribution to growth from online offerings and an even smaller portion of growth contribution through either licensing or acquisitions. (Exhibit 3) Major omni-channel initiatives, for the most part, were not identified as an area of focus, growth or importance. Sales Growth Opportunities supply chain investment in the next two years was weighted towards systems. (Exhibit 4) For these categories, investment in facilities was a distant second place, with very little consideration of expanding supply chain capabilities through third-party relationships. However, the food, convenience and general merchandise retailers participating in the survey indicated their primary area of supply chain investment involved third-party relationships. Supply Chain Investment None 3 rd Party Relationships Facilities Systems 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Acquisitions Brand Acquisitions Online 0% 25% 50% 75% + 100% Exhibit 4 Acquisitions Retail Licensing Online Brick-and-mortar stores Infrastructure Investment 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1-15% 15-30% 30-50% 50% + N/A Exhibit 3 In order to support the increase in store square footage, the hard lines and apparel retailers surveyed indicated their primary target for Channel Expansion Some creative retailers are exploring nontraditional avenues to reach new customers, including Web-listing engines. When it came to channel management and expansion, the vast majority of retailers surveyed indicated they were not considering expansion into non-traditional channels or partnerships. Those few that did were considering Amazon or ebay as possible targets for expansion. However, when asked if they had a channel management or listing system in place to manage this expansion, none of the retailers indicated that they did, or were planning on extended channel management tools.

8 Integrated Omni-Channel Capabilities Integrated omni-channel models seamlessly allow ordering, delivery and returns regardless of the method the consumer used to procure the product. Most of the organizations we surveyed are unsure of how to bridge the gap of traditional or multi-channel operations and are hesitant to begin this challenging transformation. Having a clear understanding of the gaps between current cross-channel capabilities and a future omni-channel vision will enable retailers to define an action plan to transform their supply chain to align with an omni-channel strategy. Location Planning Location planning is the process of analyzing where certain goods find the most traction in different locations. If done successfully, the benefits to retailers can be significant and can result in increased sales, higher margins, fewer markdowns and less unsold inventory. This planning closely matches the anticipated selling of each store and rolls up into a comprehensive forecast to maximize sell-through at full retail. Location-Level Planning Most of the retailers responding to the survey continue to plan within discrete silos of stores and fulfillment centers and do not plan holistically across the entire supply chain with a plan of customer demand points. In a buy anywhere, sell anywhere, return anywhere world, integrated planning across the supply chain is a core competency to maximize customer satisfaction and sell-through at full margin. 25% 20% 15% 10% 0% No, we do not currently do this. Yes, we have a Yes, we have a location plant that location plan includes distribution that includes center to store, stores and their distribution center corresponding to customer. distribution center(s). Yes, we have a location plan that includes only stores. Exhibit 5

9 When we asked retailers whether they do location planning and what planning level they use, we found that nearly all the retailers do location-level planning at the store level, and roll the store-level plan up to the distribution center servicing those stores. (Exhibit 5) However, few of the participants indicated they practiced location-level planning at the distribution center to include direct-to-consumer and fulfillment from store-level processes. In the survey, branded apparel retailers have progressed the furthest with this more integrated and inclusive planning process. Inventory Allocation Although participants indicated they do not plan holistically across all sales channels, they are making progress toward cross-channel allocation and are planning for further improvements in the next 12 months. (Exhibit 6) Most participants responded that the fact that inventory owned by one channel could be used for another channel s fulfillment and performance in this area was currently satisfactory, yet additional improvements were planned within the next 12 months. Item Receipt Flow Plan Inventory Allocation 70% An item receipt flow plan details when and what quantity of goods are arriving at the distribution center or other product-receiving facility on a day-by-day basis. The plan gives retailers better visibility into the demand for products, allows them to react based on advanced knowledge of product shortages, and allows them to glean information about the inventory quantities necessary to meet product demand. 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Inventory allocated in one channel can be utilized for another channel s fulfillment. Your organization s performance in this area is satisfactory. Exhibit 6 Improvements are planned within 12 months. Survey results indicated virtually all retailers, especially specialty retailers, used item receipt flow planning within their companies to forecast supporting demands on their supply chain organizations. Additionally, most of the retailers surveyed indicated they used this plan at the beginning of the season as well as in-season with updates. All of the retailers that used an item receipt flow plan also indicated they both provided input into and received output from this plan to better manage their business. Cross-Channel Fulfillment When asked about cross-channel fulfillment and the greatest roadblocks that organizations were facing, there were a number of answers across the board. Unfortunately, one of the largest roadblocks is still that the business does not see a value in executing cross-channel fulfillment. It will be interesting to see how this question is answered next year, as more and more retailers realize cross-channel fulfillment is necessary to satisfy the customer, and those who are not working toward this will fall behind the competition.

10 While this year s survey didn t address optimizing the cross-channel fulfillment process to maximize full price sales and reducing fulfillment expense, BRP sees this as an area of opportunity as fulfillment from store capability becomes more prevalent. primarily using Excel, and none of the respondents said they had any larger systems in place to manage or use this information to drive supply chain decisions either proactively or reactively. When asked whether their organization currently quantified the direct and indirect costs of the fulfillment process, and at what levels this was done, most retailers indicated this was done at the distribution and store levels. However, none of the respondents said they measured these costs at the vendor-managed and dropshipping levels. This is an opportunity for many retailers to better manage the extended supply chain initiatives necessary to cost-effectively support endless aisle opportunities. Furthermore, when respondents were asked how they collect this cost information, most retailers indicated this was done offline, Conclusion The current state of omni-channel retail closely represents the early stages of online retail: Companies understand there are opportunities and threats, yet they don t have a complete strategy worked out to embrace and thrive in an omni-channel world. In next year s survey, it will be interesting to see the progress the retail community has made in addressing the organization changes to deliver the seamless omni-channel customer experience today s consumer is expecting.

11 Supply Chain Visibility Supply chain visibility is an area gaining further attention as the business climate requires tighter management of working capital, product costs and inventory investments. Most consumers today expect visibility to real-time inventory across all channels. Yet retailers are still struggling to provide real-time inventory visibility across their channels, let alone a view into their supplier inventory position. The challenge is that most data to support global inventory synchronization usually lies in multiple, disparate systems and requires some level of BI (business intelligence) capabilities. Developing real-time supply chain visibility provides critical insight for continual supply chain transformation. Survey participants were asked to rate the importance of visibility into a number of key supply chain areas. (Exhibit 7) Across all categories of retailers, the overwhelming majority of respondents indicated visibility into these areas was either important or very important to their organization. Yet, most did not have a single integrated tool that aggregated all of the supply chain execution data into a comprehensive execution tool to allow for a more proactive supply chain management process instead of functioning in a reactionary environment. Case in point, apparel retailers indicated they had similar objectives with regard to visibility within their supply chains, and they were currently planning solutions for online visibility into in-store inventory. This is a move in the right direction, but they are still generally not looking beyond a reactionary approach to demand management. Continuing this theme, few of the retailers surveyed indicated they had plans for dynamic in-transit reroute of shipments between stores or fulfillment centers based upon changes in demand, external factors such as weather, or sell-through. As customers expect faster direct delivery and most retailers aren t planning on building a network of new regional distribution centers, leveraging transportation as a fulfillment center on wheels is an opportunity to build a more dynamic supply chain.

12 Sales Growth Opportunities 3PL facilities Returns Supplier DC, supplier locations and store Vendor dropship Store in-transit Inbound in-transit Direct channel Store Fulfillment center Retail DC 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Very Important Important Neutral Not Important N/A Exhibit 7 Order-to-Ship Commitments for Direct-to-Consumer Orders one-week or when available shipping was acceptable anymore. When asked about their current and desired order-to-ship commitment, nearly threequarters of the retailers surveyed indicated they offered delivery within one week. (Exhibit 8) Moreover, more than half the participating retailers commit to two-day (or faster) shipping. Faster shipping is a growing trend among retailers. Nearly two-thirds of the participants who indicated having next-day shipping are looking to offer same-day shipping, and more than a third of the retailers offering two-day shipping are looking to offer next-day delivery. Everyone sees fulfillment speed as important as retailers try to compete against online retailers who offer faster shipping. This is clear by the fact that no one in the survey indicated that Order-to-Ship Commitment Unsure When available One week Two days Next day Same day 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Current Desired Exhibit 8

13 Reverse Logistics and Fulfill from Point of Return Handling vendor and customer returns has always been a difficult and complicated process, and retailers in this year s survey confirmed that reverse logistics remains an area that presents a number of challenges. When asked about purchase and return channel configuration, virtually all the respondents indicated they allowed customers to purchase and return in the same channel, and they typically did not have fees associated with in-store returns, regardless of the channel. (Exhibit 9) BRP believes that until true cross-channel inventory visibility happens, this strategy will be slow to gain traction. Accountability 0% Accuracy 14.30% Other 9.50% Traceability 14.30% Visibility 33.30% Reverse Logistic Challenges Cost 28.60% Most retailers in the survey do not absorb return freight costs. Visibility into reverse logistics was found to be a large challenge facing retailers across all categories. Conclusion Exhibit 10 Cross-Channel Returns 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Buy online, return online Yes Buy online, return to store No Buy in store, return online Buy in store, return to store While retailers continue to make improvements in overall inventory visibility within their own organizations, the industry has not made huge leaps with the integration of suppliers inventory and available-to-promise into a complete picture, with the exception of consumer staples. Returns and reverse logistics continue to be a challenging area and will become even more challenging in a buy-anywhere, return-anywhere world. It will be interesting to see how increasing ship-to-deliver expectations play out with traditional brick-andmortar retailers. Exhibit 9 None of the survey respondents have evolved to a fulfill from a point of return model, where a return is held where it is received by the company, like a retail store, then is used to fulfill a customer order without the freight expense of centralized processing and fulfillment. (Exhibit 10)

14 Collaborative Vendor Management Collaborative vendor management is becoming a critical component of the need to reduce time-to-market for new product introductions, leverage supplier know-how to engineer costs out of new products and respond faster to market fluctuations. There is a strong need for tighter collaboration with strategic vendor partners. By sharing product catalogs and real-time inventory, retailers are able to offer an endless aisle of product choices without the need to purchase and hold that inventory. By sharing sales forecasts and trend analytics, vendors are able to anticipate and react to shifting consumer preferences. Planning and Supply Chain Collaboration All the retailers surveyed across all categories indicated they saw value in collaboration between planning and the supply chain. Specifically, respondents were asked whether they saw value across four categories: buying and sourcing; execution and distribution; proactive planning and landed/in-store data; and proactive warehouse planning. Nearly all of the participants expressed interest in each of these categories, but actual visibility between trading partners and across silos is very limited at this point, other than vendor drop-ship strategies. Even though retailers are utilizing drop ship, they did not include extended supply chain strategies such as vendor drop ship into their planning and execution process. Supplier Catalog Participants were also asked about their integration with suppliers and their catalogs. Integration into the supplier catalog was not applicable for one-third of the respondents, as they sell their own brand. For those selling products from manufacturers, very few respondents stated that they offered 100% of said catalogs. (Exhibit 11) Those that did tended to only offer items through drop ship or special order programs, with minimal physical carrying of merchandise. Integration with suppliers catalogs is a growing trend among retailers, with a few retailers already integrated or planning to integrate

15 within two years. This is especially evident among hard lines retailers, with one-third of the respondents planning to more tightly integrate with their suppliers. less relevant. Retailers were unlikely to have access to available-to-promise information from their suppliers, as only 11% of those surveyed accessed this information. % of Supplier Item Catalog Offered Supplier Information We offer X% through drop-ship programs and special orders We physically carry X% of their offering Sales forecast Sales history Expected availability We offer X% of their total offering 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% In-stock Available to promise Own our brands 75% 25% 50% 100% Unsure 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No Exhibit 11 Exhibit 12 Supplier Information Among the retailers surveyed, nearly half indicated they received some information from suppliers, including available-to-promise, instock, expected availability, sales history and sales forecast. (Exhibit 12) Among the retailers receiving information from their suppliers, an overwhelming majority received information in two or more of these categories. Sales history was the most likely to be shared, with more than a third of retailers receiving this information. In-stock was a close second, at slightly less than a third. Specialty soft and hard good retailers were less likely to receive information from their suppliers, as only 28% of these indicate that they do. This may be driven by the fact that these retailers sell their own brands and either produce their own goods or use contract manufacturers. In these cases, the information we asked about may be Most of the information currently being shared is looking backward as to what has sold, and not looking forward either in initial planning, or closer with visibility to available-to-promise. Selling information has proven valuable in the consumer products categories with staple products that have stable demand. The bigger challenge is using this data to be more predictive and responsive across channels and to meet the new challenges of same-day delivery. Lean Supply Chain Initiatives and Sourcing Most respondents felt their inventory levels were in line with what was needed to support sales, and the retailers surveyed generally did not express interest in lean supply chain initiatives strategies such as immediate production, postponement to finished goods, or mass customization. A few retailers did indicate

16 they planned to implement made-to-order or customized-to-order strategies. (Exhibit 13) Lean Supply Chain Initiatives and Sourcing Immediate production Near-shorting When it came to near-shoring, most participants currently importing did not see additional nearshoring as a future option for sourcing. The hard specialty category typically saw the most interest in near-shoring, as many of the respondents in this category were currently practicing it. Those that did currently practice near-shoring indicated they tended to only source a small amount of their assortment from Canada, Mexico, Central America or South America, typically less than 25%. Postponement to finished goods Mass customization, made-to-order / customize-to-order 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% With increasing labor costs abroad and an expected increase in financing costs as the world s economy starts to pull out of the economic doldrums, we expect more retailers to revisit near-shoring for sourcing. Yes No plans No, planning to within 5 years No, planning to within 2 years No, planning to within 12 months Sourcing Western Europe Exhibit 13 The respondents, when asked where their organizations source their products, demonstrated several trends in global sourcing decisions. (Exhibit 14) Retailers across many of the categories still source heavily from the United States, with most retailers indicating that they sourced more than half their assortment domestically. While the survey did not specifically ask for country-of-origin information, it is our belief that the majority of this product is purchased domestically, but is of foreign manufacturing. For companies doing their own product development, the majority of sourcing was done from Asia. Finally, some of the retailers surveyed indicated that they sourced from Western Europe, Canada or Mexico, with only a few saying they sourced from Central America, South America or Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe Asia Central & South America Canada/Mexico U.S. Product Customization 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Exhibit 14 Mass customization still has not generally gained traction, as most of the retailers surveyed tended not to offer customized products. Those that did typically offered more custom configured products, with a few,

17 including wholesale, general merchandise and resort retailers, indicating they offered both customized and custom configured products. Conclusion Collaborative vendor management continues to be a major area of opportunity for most retailers. This process closely integrates planning, operations and fulfillment processes between retailers and vendor partners. This extends beyond traditional drop-ship programs to a wider and more comprehensive integration of planning, catalog and more. Retailers are aware of how valuable the concept of collaborative vendor management is and will be in the future. They are slowly moving in this direction and embracing the sharing of data with key suppliers. Going forward, the expanding data collaboration efforts and ventures into predictive analytics will allow both retailers and vendors to have an impact through minimizing costs and maximizing inventory across both supply chain systems. Additionally, with the need for a consistent, complete and comprehensive personalized path to purchase regardless of the final channel, new opportunities in collaboration are quickly coming to the forefront. For a given brand, the key challenge is to deliver and maintain a consistent message about the product, regardless of where and to whom the message is delivered. There are six content messaging categories today: search, e-tail, traditional retail, vendor advertising, website and application (apps). The next layer of integration between vendors and retailers is focused on sharing of hundreds of product attributes that relate everything, from marketing messaging to features to benefits to allergen information. The list goes on and on, and the market is moving faster than the interchange standards. This will be a huge area of change in the next 12 to 18 months, and BRP will be monitoring this trend closely.

18 Future Trends So overall, where are (and where should) retailers be going to keep them competitive? With omni-channel sales currently pegged at about 6% of retail revenues, there is still a tremendous amount of growth potential for omni-channel sales to become a larger portion of overall revenue. Endless aisle strategies will continue to expand this area. Additionally, more personalized offerings will become the cost of admission as consumers become less and less tolerant of general marketing messages. A complete path to purchase strategy unifies marketing messages with content and distribution to provide a seamless brand experience throughout the process regardless of messaging platform (search, Web, app, retailer or e-tailer) or point of purchase. For the most part, retail is still a very long way from being able to offer a completely seamless customer experience with a few notable exceptions, such as Apple. Another big challenge is breaking down the silos of data within the organization, which is the primary method of improving operational execution across trading partners, and between Cross-Channel Returns 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Other No improvements planned Process redesign Additional functionality added to New point solution New ERP system Investment in physical assets Exhibit 15

19 competing interests, within retailers. Nearly every KPI today is based upon local metrics (i.e., store versus website), so overall profitability, consumer experience and customer satisfaction are compromised and will continue to be compromised until the industry creates KPIs that measure on a much more global basis. (Exhibit 15) The retail environment continually evolves, and e-commerce was really just the beginning of this latest evolution. Brick-and-mortar retailing is not dead, but brick-and-mortar retailers now must contend with not only the competition down the street, but also competitors from different countries, across all selling channels, and throughout the entire supply chain. To succeed, savvy retailers will have to rethink their businesses, and the supply chain needs to be a key part of their potential transformation. About Boston Retail Partners For more information or assistance on any of the topics covered in this survey, please contact: Ken Morris, Principal Boston Retail Partners Independence Wharf, 470 Atlantic Ave., 4th Floor Boston, MA 02210 (617) 880-9355 kmorris@bostonretailpartners.com Dimitry Erez, Vice President Boston Retail Partners Independence Wharf, 470 Atlantic Ave., 4th Floor Boston, MA 02210 (941) 400-2170 derez@bostonretailpartners.com Boston Retail Partners is an innovative and independent retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. Boston Retail Partners combines its consultants deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology and process solutions. The firm s unique combination of industry focus, knowledgebased approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. Headquartered in Boston, Boston Retail Partners serves all retail segments and channels. Kathleen Fischer, Marketing Manager Boston Retail Partners Independence Wharf, 470 Atlantic Ave., 4th Floor Boston, MA 02210 (330) 289-3342 kfischer@bostonretailpartners.com