In order to succeed in today’s highly competitive and evolving marketplace, retailers and suppliers need to identify and establish lasting relationships with one another. Suppliers want to do business with excellent retailers, and retailers need reliable partners. However, developing these relationships and maintaining frequent communication between suppliers and retailers remains an ongoing challenge. From keeping up with retailer requirements and expectations to finding compliant suppliers, both ends of the spectrum seek new ways to connect and succeed in bringing new, innovative products to the marketplace to meet consumer needs.
Suppliers are often faced with the challenge of securing appointments with sales representatives, obtaining raw material sources and the risk of falling behind on requirements, expectations and trends with retailers.
Meanwhile, retailers need ways to obtain market insight and differentiate themselves from competitors. At the same time, they must overcome supply issues, including unreliable suppliers that lack engagement and compliance.
How can suppliers and retailers solve these challenges and benefit from each other? In today’s digital age, online communication is one of the easiest, most reliable ways to stay connected and informed. Furthermore, excellent communication creates excellent outcomes. Online collaboration can help retail companies improve their speed to market, cost management and mitigate key business risks. Addressing these factors means companies must collaborate faster and more efficiently, as competition now takes place between supply chains – not just individual companies.
During this period of retail reinvention, there is a growing need for a collaborative retail business network. Retailers and suppliers would both benefit by enhancing communication through a single online hub for retail partners to improve shoppers’ customer experience and to better address the rise and fall of market trends. Additionally, this would help retailers and suppliers identify reliable partners, source and promote Private Label products and make it easier to develop business globally, while mitigating reputational risk and cultivating brands.
The ideal solution would be a single place where stakeholders could take a closer look at the marketplace and offer knowledge, insight, assessment, product and audit information. Not only would this information allow retailers and suppliers stay ahead of trends and better understand the marketplace, it would also provide a secure place to work together and stay connected.
Retail trading partners need to deliver superior customer experience in order to stand out in the market. The only way to do that is to have trustworthy, compliant and innovative suppliers. An ideal solution would connect the ecosystem of global retail partners for effective collaboration, while addressing companies’ needs for business efficiency, differentiation and confidence in their Private Label brands.
With the right solution, together, retailers and suppliers can benefit from each other’s strengths, and create a stronger, safer and more successful marketplace.