Manthan Releases Retail Guide for Next Generation Supply Chain Collaboration
Phoenix, Arizona (PRWEB) November 19, 2014 -- Manthan, the global leader in advanced analytics solutions for retailers and consumer packaged goods companies, released a free guide for retailers and their suppliers titled “Three Steps to Next Generation Supplier Collaboration in Retail”. This guide lays out a step-by-step approach for a retailer to activate shopper demand and deliver a better shopper experience by improving inventory availability, product assortment, pricing and promotions; while driving down operational and logistical costs.
Nikki Baird, an analyst at Retail Systems Research (RSR), emphasized the need for collaboration in a recent blog post - “It’s Finally Time to Get Serious About Supply Chain Collaboration (Again).” Competitive pressures, such as Amazon’s strength in fulfillment and Wal-Mart’s same day delivery capabilities, combined with elevated shopper expectations, are forcing retailers to take a closer look at supplier networks and capabilities to optimize the shopper experience.
“The rapid change in consumer shopping behaviors is forcing retailers to rethink their supply chain strategies. Retailers are pressured to provide a single brand experience when shopper demand is flowing in from every channel, no matter where the inventory currently resides. To overcome these pressures, retailers must incorporate supply chain collaboration tools to decrease time to fulfill, to meet shopper expectations,” said Baird, analyst at RSR Research.
According to Manthan, several opportunities exist to greatly enhance the retail shopper experience through an optimized supply chain extending back to the manufacturers. Retailers can collaborate with their supplier network to improve stock availability, speed up new product launches, plan joint promotions, modify price offerings, analyze shopper demand and preferences, and more. However, the lack of visibility, compounded by multiple silos of data, leads to breakdowns in the supply chain. In “Three Steps to Next Generation Supplier Collaboration in Retail,” Manthan recommends a phased approach for retailers to move from information disparity to complete collaboration with suppliers.
These steps include:
• Information Collaboration: During this phase, retailers should attempt to consolidate supplier and product data into a ‘single version of the truth’. Leveraging an interface for data and document exchange can further optimize retail workflows and introduce visibility into supply operations.
• Process Collaboration: Retailers can identify and implement standardized processes to improve supply chain efficiencies. By introducing automation across everyday retail activities such as purchase order management, trade promotion funding, invoice reconciliation and space planning, retailers can reduce thousands of hours spent on administrative supply chain and merchandising activities annually.
• Integrated Collaboration: Retailers can now spend more time on making the right decisions across their supply chain. Leveraging retail direct data and shopper intelligence, retailers can provide contextual insights to suppliers to influence shopper demand. As a result, retailers and their suppliers can observe increased shopper and banner loyalty, which in turn drives sustainable growth and competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Learn more about Manthan’s 3-step approach to activate shopper demand through next generation collaboration.
Manthan’s Vendor Link, an analytics-driven supplier collaboration engine enables and empowers retailers to maximize the value of their supplier relationships. Delivered in the cloud, Vendor Link integrates process and data collaboration via a self-service portal to facilitate an agile, profitable supplier network. Vendor Link drives process efficiencies through business process automation, information management and visibility enhancement across the retail supply chain. Retailers can also share insights related to products, categories and shoppers with their supplier network. The combination of a powerful process collaboration platform with shopper level insights shared through Vendor Link enables manufacturers to influence shopper demand through targeted promotions and communication.
“Streamlining supplier management processes has never been as simple, especially with SaaS solutions like Vendor Link. Vendor Link is an enterprise-class solution with the scalability associated with cloud applications. Consequently, retailers can begin by on-boarding all their suppliers, then adopt packages related to capabilities like information management, order-to-pay, promotions or retail insights as they advance through each of the phases of supply chain collaboration” said Sameer Narula, VP, Supplier Collaboration and Analytics, at Manthan.
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About Manthan
Manthan serves as the Chief Analytics Officer for consumer industries worldwide. Manthan's comprehensive portfolio of analytics products and solutions is architected with deep industry specificity, bringing together analytics, technology and industry practices to evolve sophisticated, yet intuitive analytical capabilities. Over the past few years, Manthan's analytics competence has helped us provide solutions to over 175 leading organizations across 19 countries. At Manthan, we understand the retailer and his issues. Visit Manthan at https://www.manthan.com/
Joanna Beerman, Manthan, http://www.manthansystems.com, 435-901-4844, [email protected]
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