Supply Chain Management and Retailing

Retailers are now the dominant partners in most supply systems and have used their positions to re-engineer operations and partnerships with suppliers and other logistic service providers. No longer are retailers the passive recipients of manufacturer allocations, but instead are the active channel controllers organizing supply in anticipation of, and reaction to consumer demand. This paper reflects on the ongoing transformation of retail supply chains and logistics. If considers this transformation through an examination of the fashion, grocery and selected other retail supply chains, drawing on practical illustrations. Current and future challenges are then discussed. Introduction Retailers were once the passive recipients of products allocated to stores by manufacturers in the hope of purchase by consumers and replenished only at the whim and timing of the manufacturer. Today, retailers are the controllers of product supply in anticipation of, and reaction to, researched, understood, and real-time customer demand. Retailers now control, organise, and manage the supply chain from production to consumption. This is the essence of the retail logistics and supply chain transformation that has taken place since the latter part of the twentieth century. Retailers have become the channel captains and set the pace in logistics. Having extended their channel control and focused on corporate efficiency and effectiveness, retailers have