Reducing the Expenses Associated with Managing the Supply Chain in the Retail Industry

Retail organisations are using supply chain management to control inventory levels, product quality, expenses, and timing. An effective supply chain strategy differentiates delivery terms and service offerings which are vital for optimising the customer service and satisfaction and balance of cost. Retail businesses have become more challenging owing to the external and internal forces due to the ever-evolving nature of the environment like covid-19 pandemic. Various measures are being taken to address the need to the manage cost of supply chain operation. The supply chain factors must not be ignored as the entire link along the retail supply chain play vital roles. This article is an attempt to presenting an overview of the current situation in the retail industry particularly in the retailing sector and the forces affecting their business cost which include knowledge, forecasting, procurement, and outsourcing. The paper concludes through literature review that recognizes risks associated with each force that could potentially determine the cost of business for the retailing hypermarkets. As such, an empirical study is to follow this conceptual study to analyse the hypotheses developed and to identify the factors and strategies that retailers could use to reduce the cost and impact of supply chain disruptions to their overall costs. An effective supply chain strategy in retailing helps companies to reduce operating costs in numerous ways. It reduces time to market and minimizes the inventory holding cost. Improving supply chain management also helps companies to meet their sourcing needs and timely deliver materials to production or assembly plants’.