Combating Retail’s Biggest Challenges with Data

See how your supply chain compares to the 200+ retail executives surveyed.

In a recent survey of more than 200 global retail executives who oversee supply chain, logistics and warehousing, 47% cited supply disruption as their most pressing challenge and product availability as the second-biggest challenge.

Top 5 Most Pressing Supply Chain Challenges

0%

Supply Disruptions

0%

Product Availability

0%

Omnichannel Fulfillment

0%

Inventory Carrying Costs

0%

Labor Planning

Retailers understand the importance of keeping their shelves or ecommerce storefronts stocked, but they also recognize the challenging realities of order fulfillment and inventory management.

Is this consistent with what you expected?

0%

expect real-time visibility to be the most helpful solution for their supply chain challenges in the future.

Value of Visibility for Retail

Optimize Inventory Levels

Real-time visibility and SKU-level load tagging allows you to calculate accurate cycle times and predict arrivals with unprecedented accuracy.

“In the past we would have had to dig into PO numbers or truck numbers. It was just much more challenging. Now it’s just one-stop. We can see everything that’s moving in a single picture, within the FourKites dashboard.”

Director, Domestic Transportation, The Michaels Companies

Reduce operating costsLower Operating Costs

Minimize fees, reduce unplanned expedites and keep transportation, labor and warehousing costs in check.

“The data available on the FourKites platform helps PetSmart Transportation maximize carrier utilization and supports our goal to be a shipper of choice. Visibility to support network optimization is invaluable by supporting the efficient flow of goods through our supply chain while reducing costs for the company.”

Dawn Goudie, Senior Manager, Supply Chain Service Center, Petsmart

Industry analysts from Gartner project growth in the use of real-time transportation visibility across all industries.

By 2023, 50% of global product-centric enterprises will have invested in real-time transportation visibility platforms.

Source: Gartner 2021 Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms

FourKites, the leading real-time transportation visibility platform, has seen tremendous growth in retail industry customers.

In the first half of 2021, total shipments tracked for retail customer grew by:

0%

How Satisfied Are You With Your Real-time Transportation Visibility Platform?

Taming Unplanned Costs with Data

More than half of respondents say the highest unplanned costs in the supply chain are related to inventory planning, in areas such as stock outs, excess inventory or misplaced inventory. The second major concern is in freight transportation.

Unexpected Costs, Ranked

FourKites Purchase Order visibility helps Meijer efficiently track and manage over 220,000 active SKUs.

Dwell time was reduced by 14% during October 2020-March 2021 to 59.5 minutes from 69 minutes in April to September 2020.

Retailers can achieve an 85% reduction in manual scheduling using FourKites for appointment management.

Where in the Supply Chain Do You See the Highest Unplanned Costs?

Real-time visibility solutions such as FourKites, help by creating that single pane of glass that allows customers to understand where the truck is and what’s on it—down to a SKU level—to better manage the impact to the warehouse or manufacturing plant.

“Being able to track the life of an order all the way through, across all applications, in a way that actually tells the whole story – is key. In partnership with FourKites, we’re really making a strong effort to try and create that one-stop shop for our information.”

Sr. Manager, Global Logistics and Trade Systems and Operations Support, Best Buy

Data — A Key to Success

Having visibility into real-time data allows retailers to build an agile and adaptive supply chain that can help increase efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, create ROI and contribute to a more positive team morale.

“With all the technology out there, I’d say we’re only really starting to scratch the surface of what’s available. By leveraging TMS systems and integrating that with FourKites’ data, we’ve been able to create more dynamic routing which saves us about 10 million a year.

Sr. Manager, Global Logistics and Trade Systems and Operations Support, Best Buy

See How Supply Chain Visibility is Transforming Retail