Outsourcing Distribution in Uk Retailing

Partnerships, alliances and Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) are concepts that have been prominent in the marketing and logistics literature in the 1990s. One element of relationship building between vendor and purchaser is the outsourcing of activities within the supply chain. Although outsourcing was one of the topics discussed in the major retail trade conferences in the US (National Retail Federation) and the UK (Retail Week) in 1997, outsourcing within the context of retail logistics has been a relatively neglected area of academic research. This paper seeks to redress this imbalance through a survey of distribution managers of British retail companies to ascertain their views on the outsourcing of logistical services to third party contractors. In addition to understanding the motives behind either externalising the logistical function or retaining it ‘in house’, the degree of commitment to the relationship will also be discussed.