While 2020 and 2021 were certainly years of unknowns, one thing is certain: online shopping is here to stay. According to one study from Shopify, over 46% of consumers said they feel uncomfortable shopping in-person

Conventional thinking says the concept of “brand-building” is led by advertising, marketing, presentation, and point of sale merchandising. Yet we know that consumers have a whole host of expectations that live outside of these four walls. The days of leaving brand perceptions to your marketing department is over. 

When you hear the word disrupt, you tend to think of a positive, innovative change. But when it comes to today’s supply chain in a post-pandemic world, disruption is a double-edged sword.

In a pre-pandemic world, QR codes were long forgotten. After nearly vanishing into obscurity, the QR code is back. And not just on restaurant tables. A Statista June 2021 survey found that 45 percent of shoppers from the US had used a marketing-related QR code in the previous three months. The share was highest among those aged 18 to 29, and 59 percent of respondents believed that QR codes would be a permanent use for their mobile phone in the future.

In supply chain terms, sustainability is the ultimate resource management, ensuring balanced supply and demand for the long-term, avoiding depletion of natural resources, and maintaining ecological balance. But what about circularity?

If the global pandemic has taught businesses anything, it’s that supply chain resilience is critical to future-proofing brand and business operations. Global sourcing and manufacturing are increasingly critical to meeting evolving consumer demands and sustainability requirements. And at the epicenter of that evolution is nearshoring.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) US retailers lose an estimated $61.7 billion per year from shoplifting, employee or vendor theft, and administrative error. These losses average at 1.4% of retail sales but can be greater than 2% in some apparel and cosmetics categories—a huge potential loss when looking at billion dollar companies.

It’s not news that the retail landscape is now driven by the digital-savvy who seemingly have limitless shopping and buying opportunities at their fingertips. The way they discover, find and receive products has been evolving at a rapid pace in the last decade.  According to a 2019 BRP Consumer Engagement Study, 87% of customers are interested in a personalized and consistent experience across all channels and 68% of customers would choose a store that offers personalized promotions/discounts over a store that doesn’t offer them.  While the answer to this seems simple with the latest in ecommerce tools, one critical consideration is often overlooked -- having the inventory visibility to pay off those preferences and get product in the hands of your consumers.