Written by Man Yan Tam, September 23, 2018
Technology is evolving but, for much of the time it’s duplication or at least a reiteration of existing technology – an upgrade or improvement on an existing system. But occasionally, brand new tech offerings are developed such as, Internet of Things (IOT), Blockchain and advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI). These technology innovations offer completely new approaches to solving old problems. As Technology continues to evolve, so too are retail and private label business models. Retailers around the world are experiencing never-ending transformations caused by a number of trends at play. More companies are joining the global retail competition, through both, the traditional brick and mortar and online channels. With customer trends changing at the speed of light, global retailers need to understand the new trends and how new technologies can help attract new customers and solve old problems.
In todays fast pace environment customers are looking for ultra-convenience, customization and quality 
at the lowest cost. Companies like Amazon satisfy the customers’ needs which allows the company to have a competitive advantage and become the world’s largest online retailer. Amazon creates evolution with its new technologies and being successful in the market. Amazon provides ultra-convenience service to its members, which makes it hard for other retailers to compete. Amazon has different memberships with different levels of service. For the basic memberships, customers can shop on web wide, create their own wish list, save shopping records and pick different shipping method. Amazon also provides prime membership and this is where the magic happens – offering free two-day shipping, among many other benefits. Prime members can track orders in real-time and if shipments arrive late, Amazon will provide discounts back to the members, enabling members to shop more. This is the ultra-convenience service that Amazon is providing but, how does the magic happen? Amazon has its own supplier network and warehouses worldwide, giving the company the ability work on orders immediately. Thanks to technology innovations, Amazon is able to increase speed-to-market, deliver products faster than customer expectations and management their supplier network.
With the constantly changing consumer trends, today’s retailers need to scale private label to meet 
consumer demands, therefore, retailers must expand their supplier network. With an increase in suppliers comes large amount of data, resulting in retailers not being able to manage suppliers as efficiently as they used to. Most traditional retailers still manage through email – gathering and sharing data through email communication and spreadsheet trackers but, when the supplier base grows it gets more and more complicated to manage through email communication, not to mention the time zone differences. New technologies allow retailers to better manage and share data back and forth with their suppliers, while keeping track of quotes, samples, production, quality, audits, inspections and compliance. This data is kept in real-time so all internal retail teams can stay up-to-date with key supplier information. Walmart is a good example. The aim of Walmart is to keep an everyday low price. The secret to providing lower prices to their customers is that Walmart is a dominant player in effective supplier management. As retailers struggle to scale private label operations, adding additional suppliers to an already complicated process puts strain on managing the supplier network and ultimately hurts market share. World leading retailers like Walmart and Amazon use different software technologies such as, supply chain management software, inventory management software, supplier management software, to keep everything in track.
As technology continues to evolve and new private label strategies take shape, the only way to success, is to implement a game changing supplier management solution, a solution that can effectively manage the increase in suppliers needed to sustain the growth needed through retail private label product development. To learn more about retails best supplier management software or retail sourcing and supply chain management (SCM) tools visit us @ CBX Software or Contact Us and for continued updates and insights follow CBX on LinkedIn.
Written by Man Yan Tam, September 23, 2018
