What’s an omni-channel supply chain?

Today, omni-channels have given consumers more choices to shop. Let’s take a look at some of those options.

Hey, Apa. How are you? Where’s your food? Ah, speak of the devil. Pizza for Apa. Thank you.

This is an excellent example of how omni-channel is changing consumer behaviour. Here, we see two different individuals purchasing their meals using two different devices. And their meals are delivered in two different ways Omni-channel is gradually forcing retailers to re-organize their supply chains and logistics. In the case of the KFC, Sonja chooses to pick up her purchase, while Apa opts for delivery of her pizza. Although it is always good to provide customers with options, these options do affect how businesses would manage their supply chain. In the case of Sonja’s pick-up, businesses would need to stock adequate goods at the bricks-and-mortar stores for both offline and online customers.

It will also mean that retailers need to relay the customer’s order in a timely manner at the physical store. Inventory management must be re-calibrated in an omni-channel environment. Apa’s pizza appears to be a simple delivery. But it complicates the logistics operations. There is a trade-off for business in having delivery managed by a third party, rather than in-house. Some businesses incur the greatest costs in the final stage of delivery, also known as the ‘last mile’. For some, delivery costs may even outweigh the profit of the sale.

Anything, anytime, and anywhere may come at a cost for companies adopting omni-channel. However, this is the ultimate in customer service.