www.supplychainstandard.com


those connections and pathways are already there.” Illingworth says retailers want greater flexibility in


the way they fulfil orders, creating the ability to fulfil from DC or retail stores. “You can say, during the week I am going to fulfil out of 100 different stores, then at the weekend, when they are busy, only fulfil out of 20 stores. So you can maximise your stock potential.” he says. The company has started to work with a couple of


retailersonlaunching a90minutedelivery service,where an order is fulfilled from a local store directly to the customer’s home. “That’s where things aremoving. It’s a just-in-timeworld. Someonemay be going out andwant a dress for that evening,” he says. “They would look on the web and check availability at


their local store. If a store is flagged to be a quick-delivery store they put in their post code and then they are given theoptiontocollect fromstoreorhave itdeliveredwithin two hours.” However, he adds a caveat, “Obviously, for some stores this wouldn’t work – where it would work is in densely populated areas.” Fashion retailing is increasingly a global business.


Brands that have succeeded in one territory are keen to replicate that success in other countries. But the chances of failure can be high. Successful supply chain execution in overseasmarkets


requires consideration of a number of key factors.Helen Wilkinson, business development, Unipart Consumer


A lot of people whowould have designed the codes and have beenmodifying these systems are nowlooking to retire and that is causing a skills gap. Craig Sears-Black


Supply chain execution 19


Returns, which typically run at 20-30 per cent of deliveries, are not failures, they are part of the process,” says Wilkinson. “Consumers need the assurance that both the physical return process, and the re-crediting to their accounts, will be swift and painless. At the same time, the ability of the vendor to convert returned items back into available stock,within the often very short life- cycles of the fashion industry, has a critical effect on margins and profitability.” She points out that to an extent, getting product out


there, even internationally, is relatively straightforward – handling returns is not. Wilkinsonbelieves that as long as returns arewithinthe


system, the retailer is still buying and holding possibly unnecessary stock. “As returns materialise, it is imperative to move them swiftly back to the (virtual) shelves, otherwise, excess stock may be ordered and at the end of the season –which for some linesmay only be a couple of months – margin-destroying markdowns become inevitable,” she says. According toWilkinson, “It may for some retailers be


feasible to supply, say,US orders fromtheUK. It does not follow that itmakes sense, in terms of time ormoney, to bring returns all the way back to UK DC’s, if it may be resold back in theUnited States,” she says. “On the other hand, if the returned itemis just as likely to be resold in sayGermany, itmaymake perfect sense.” She emphasises that, “there are complex issues around


inventory and systems, aswell as costs, duties, taxes and tariffs – which may also be influential. We have considerable experience in helping fashion retailers expand internationally and in analysing and balancing these complex factors of global supply chains.”


Efficient But just how efficient are our supply chains in terms of exchangingproduct informationtoeffect execution?GS1 is a not-for-profit, global supply chain standards organisation for retailers and manufacturers, with UK boardmembers that include the likesofTesco, Sainsbury, Diagio, Proctor&Gamble, Kraft andUnilever. “In terms of mass development and execution of


GS1 standards the retail sector is very mature in identifying products, exchanging orders and invoices using GS1 standards – however, there is still room for improvement, especially around product information exchange,” says Harshal Gore, membership services manager, GS1. In the last few weeks GS1 has introduced TrueSource


Logistics, says the web site is the first imperative. “Some companies have attempted to serve overseas markets through their domestic web site, but this is rarely operationally satisfactory, or convincing to demanding and suspicious consumers. A local website is vital, in the local language and


adopting local usages – British court shoes are pumps in theUS –but alsoreflecting local factors suchas customer pricing – for example, sales tax.” Wilkinson believes locality reassures the consumer


about all-important service levels. “Fashion customers are accustomed to next-day or 48 hour fulfilment – a foreignweb site suggests a four or six-day cycle orworse, which seems like a lifetime in thismarket,” she says. Similarly, consumers are keenly interested in returns


policies. “In fashion, it can be almost de rigueur to order three pieces, choose one and send the others back.


Supply Chain Standard September 2012


It’s a just-in- timeworld. Someone may be going out andwant a dress for that evening.


2.0, an upgrade to a cloud based solution launched eighteen months ago for sharing product data between brand owner and retailer. “TrueSource 2.0 is a servicewe havedevelopedtotryandsupport theindustryinsharing standard and trusted product data between brand owner/supplier and retailer – and ultimately, then with the consumer,” saysTomBeston,TrueSourceprogramme manager at GS1 UK. “By having a tool or a service like TrueSource,where brand owners can enter product data once and then share it withmultiple trading partners, it means thewhole of the industry, plus the consumer, has the same view of that information. This drives new technologies and improved experiences for consumers and gives greater accuracy and trusted data.” However, it is quite a task trying to get everyone to


subscribe to sucha service.“Whatwehavedone is create TrueSource as a low-cost entrypoint for suppliers andwe have developed it with our membership in mind – an awful lot of ourmembers are SMEs. Around 97 per cent that joined us last year were SMEs, with many coming fromthe online retail environment,” says Beston. “There are many different providers of online


catalogues or data pools, and that’s thewhole point of it. It’s a standards based network so there are other providers out there who provide similar services, but because they are using standards, the data can be shared between trading partners efficiently and ultimately, can be seen as trusted product data because it has come directly fromthe brand owner.”


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