Retail enterprises should choose the corresponding supply chain management strategy according to the types of goods they operate, adopt efficient supply chain for functional goods and reactive supply chain for innovative goods, so as to realize the strategic matching between supply chain and commodity types.
Keywords: efficient supply chain reactive supply chain of retail enterprises
As an integrated management idea and method, supply chain management is a management mode that connects suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and end customers around core enterprises through logistics, capital flow and information flow. At present, the understanding of supply chain management in many domestic retail enterprises only stays at the operational level, and it is not regarded as an important part of enterprise strategy implementation. Therefore, only through strategic thinking on supply chain management, combining with commodity types to build a supply chain and obtain strategic matching can we make a qualitative leap in the implementation of supply chain management in China's retail enterprises.
First, efficient supply chain and reactive supply chain
Supply chain has two main functions: logistics function and business flow function. The logistics function of supply chain refers to processing raw materials into parts, semi-finished products and products at the lowest cost, and transporting them from one node of supply chain to another; The business process function of supply chain refers to making a quick response to market demand and ensuring that the right products are used to meet customers' needs at the right place and time. Both logistics function and business flow function need certain costs, which constitute the total cost of supply chain. Logistics costs mainly include transportation, warehousing, packaging, loading and unloading, distribution processing, distribution and other expenses, while business flow costs include the loss of commodity price reduction when supply exceeds demand, the loss of out-of-stock when supply exceeds demand, and the loss of potential customers' income. Generally speaking, supply chain is a trade-off between logistics and business flow, that is, a trade-off between responsiveness, efficiency and cost level.
Supply chain management is an integrated management idea and method. With the increasingly fierce market competition and the rapid development of information technology, the supply chain tends to shorten the response time as much as possible to meet the changing needs of users. In this time-based competition, it is required that the operation mode of the supply chain should be synchronized with the market demand, not only with rapid response, but also with flexibility and dexterity. The response ability of supply chain can be measured by the ability of supply chain to complete the following tasks: whether it can respond to the sharp change of demand; Whether it can meet the customer's requirements for shorter delivery time; Whether you can provide customers with more varieties of products; Whether innovative products can be provided; Whether it can provide customers with high-level services. The more the supply chain has the above capabilities, the stronger the response capability of the supply chain. However, the improvement of responsiveness must also pay the price of increased costs.
Efficient supply chain aims to realize the logistics function of supply chain, that is, to transform raw materials into parts, products in process and finished products at the lowest cost, and finally deliver them to consumers. The market demand, product characteristics and related technologies faced by an efficient supply chain are relatively stable, so each node enterprise in the supply chain can focus on obtaining economies of scale, improving the utilization rate of equipment, and reducing the related expenses of production, transportation and inventory, thus minimizing the product cost. Reactive supply chain aims to realize the business flow function of supply chain, that is, to respond quickly to changes in market demand. The products provided by this supply chain have great uncertainty in market demand, or the product life cycle is short, or the technology of the product itself develops rapidly, or the seasonal fluctuation of product demand is strong. Reactive supply chain needs to maintain high market adaptability and realize flexible production, thus reducing the risk of outdated and invalid products. Supply chain strategy is the balance between the responsiveness and efficiency of supply chain. Once the retail enterprise determines the supply chain strategy, the supply chain that emphasizes responsiveness must design all its functional strategies to improve its responsiveness, while the supply chain that emphasizes efficiency level must make all its functional strategies contribute to improving efficiency.
Secondly, the matching of retail enterprise's commodity types and supply chain strategies.
According to the characteristics of market demand, the commodity types of retail enterprises can be divided into functional commodities and innovative commodities. Functional commodities refer to those commodities with long life cycle, stable demand and low marginal income, such as various daily necessities, frozen and refrigerated foods, processed foods at room temperature, etc. They are sold in the supermarket. Functional goods have a long life cycle, stable demand and accurate prediction, which makes the supply and demand reach a nearly perfect balance, the market adjustment is easy, and its business flow cost can be ignored. Retail enterprises can concentrate almost all their energy on reducing logistics costs, speed up inventory turnover through close cooperation with upstream suppliers, replenish inventory in time, adopt efficient and low-cost procurement, pay attention to cost and quality in supplier selection, and ensure the balanced and effective satisfaction of customer needs according to market forecast, so as to realize the inventory of the whole supply chain. Obviously, functional goods need efficient processes, and retail enterprises operating such goods should adopt efficient supply chains.
Innovative goods refer to goods that are innovative in design or service and can bring high profits. However, due to its short life cycle and diversified commodities, it is difficult to accurately predict the demand, and the appearance of a large number of imitations will weaken the competitive advantage of innovative commodities, so enterprises have to carry out a series of more novel innovations, thus making the demand more unpredictable. The high market uncertainty of innovative goods increases the risk of imbalance between supply and demand, so its main cost is business flow cost rather than logistics cost, which requires retail enterprises to respond to customer needs quickly and flexibly according to market changes. Obviously, innovative goods need a sensitive reaction process, and retail enterprises operating such goods should adopt reactive supply chain. If retail enterprises use reactive supply chain to operate functional goods, or efficient supply chain to operate innovative goods, then their supply chain strategy will be fundamentally wrong, and then the supply chain needs to be redesigned.
Third, the implementation of supply chain management strategy for retail enterprises
First of all, identify the characteristics of commodity demand of retail enterprises. We can identify the demand characteristics of commodities from the aspects of production cycle, demand predictability, commodity diversity, market lead-in period and service standards. Generally speaking, the life cycle of functional goods is longer (more than two years), and the life cycle of innovative goods is shorter; There are few functional commodities and many innovative commodities; The demand forecast deviation of functional goods is small, and the forecast deviation of innovative goods is large; The average inventory rate of functional goods is low, and the average inventory rate of innovative goods is high; The market introduction period of functional goods is longer, and the market introduction period of innovative goods is shorter; The profit contribution rate of functional commodities is low, while the profit contribution rate of innovative commodities is high. These standards can be used to effectively identify the demand characteristics of commodities.
Secondly, the implementation of retail commodity classification management. Category management of retail goods means that retailers manage a certain category of goods as a strategic business unit, and concentrate on delivering and realizing the value of consumers in order to achieve better business performance. Specifically, retail enterprises classify all the goods they operate according to categories, determine and measure the functions, profitability, growth and other indicators of each type of goods, and divide the types of goods into functional goods and innovative goods. On this basis, considering the inventory level and shelf display of various commodities, the product variety plan is formulated, the whole product category is managed, the service level to customers is improved, and the overall income of the whole product category is maximized.
Finally, the corresponding supply chain strategy is adopted according to the type of goods. For functional goods, we should pay attention to reducing logistics cost, adopting efficient supply chain and implementing effective customer response (ECR) system. Starting with improving the efficiency of commodity supply, we use modern information technology to establish a collaborative supply model with upstream suppliers and manufacturers. The retail headquarters should make use of the commodity sales information provided by the POS system and forecast the sales volume, and use the computer-aided ordering system to place orders with suppliers. Suppliers or regional distribution centers will provide immediate replenishment to retail stores, which will stimulate manufacturers to produce products, form synchronous operation of sales and distribution, enjoy logistics facilities and warehouse resources, reduce distribution costs and minimize possible production and circulation links. For innovative products, we should focus on reducing the cost of business processes, adopting reactive supply chain and implementing rapid response (QR) system. In order to improve the response speed of customers, we should establish strategic partnership and cooperation mechanism with all parties in the supply chain, adopt EDI electronic data exchange technology, realize the division of labor and information sharing among all nodes in the supply chain, shorten the design and production cycle of goods, implement JIT production mode, carry out multi-variety small batch production and high-frequency small batch distribution, reduce the inventory level of the supply chain, quickly meet the personalized and customized needs of customers, and improve the response ability of the whole supply chain.