A successful retail supply chain must manage the
flows of information, product and funds effectively. Retailers want to show
customers all the product variety they have to offer, and customers, in turn,
gain from knowing if a specific product is available in stock. While an online
retailer can help online customers search through a wide variety of products,
it cannot access customers who are not online.
Using the online channel, it also cannot provide
sensory information that is only available once a product is seen, touched and
felt. In contrast, a small local retailer cannot carry a wide variety of
products and is often forced to convince customers to buy what is available.
Imagine a future where the local retailer carries
the most popular variants of product, while its online partner carries all the
others. The local retailer is linked to the online retailer’s website through a
simple store computer. The combination of the local and online retailers is
able to provide all the information a customer desires.
