Many companies think the retail supply chain is simply the act of getting a product to the retailer. This is understandable since the process to get there is very complex indeed. It includes a manufacturing process, packaging process, distribution process, compliance process, ordering process and of course the sales process. But what about when your product is sitting on the shelf of a retailer, what then?
Tracking your product after fulfillment of retail orders is a crucial step to being successful. You don’t agree? Ask Wal-Mart or Target… or any major retail chain at this point. These stores utilize technology to track products at the store level and at their distribution centers. Most of the big box retailers have their own distribution centers that enable them to fulfill product immediately to a store in need of product. In fact their solutions are so intelligent it can get a store that is out of product stocked that same day. Imagine if this was not in place, and the road block that you would be presented with… you would have to wait for a monthly report from some manual process from each store in order to even understand what your in stock levels are, let alone how your product is selling. That is just enough time for your competitor’s product to launch and compete directly with you.