2020 was a tremendous wake-up call for many businesses to evaluate their supply chain operations. After evaluating many sources across the web, please see below for the most shocking/need-to-know supply chain statistics I discovered that directly relate to the state of the present-day supply chain.
1. 64% of retailers were challenged to adapt their supply chain for eCommerce due to COVID-19.
This means that 64% of retailers did not already have a plan for eCommerce! How crazy is that? With online shopping as an established and growing channel, for businesses not having a plan in place to ship direct to consumers or even sell to consumers online was shocking to me. eCommerce is going nowhere and brands need to adapt and expand their channels and fast!
2. 36% of supply chain professionals say that inventory management optimization is one of the top drivers of their analytics initiative in order to balance supply and demand.
3. 46% of supply chain professionals still rely on excel spreadsheets for their operations
Are we in 2021 or 1995? Excel is an important tool for many things, however, keeping track of thousands of orders manually on a spreadsheet seems like a nightmare. Save yourself time by utilizing modern technology that automatically updates as orders are placed.
4. Supply chain market research shows that the majority of companies (69%) do not have complete visibility of their supply chains.
Working in the supply chain industry, I learned from prospect calls that many companies do not have full visibility, however, 69% was surprisingly high! Enterprise visibility of the entire operation is the only way to truly optimize the supply chain and build lasting resilience.
5. Over the next 2-3 years, retailers’ usage of pop-up distribution centers (DCs) will more than double, increasing from 12% to 26%.
6. 58.6% of retail supply chain executives want to increase investment in omnichannel fulfillment
Of all the supply chain statistics this one is the most trendy. Omnichannel is the new model of not only the supply chain but how businesses need to operate effectively. If your business is not looking towards an omnichannel model, I would strongly recommend doing so.
7. 34% of companies do not know how their suppliers are performing, according to a survey.
Relationship building is key when working with suppliers and people you trust. However in today’s modern age where customers want to know where their products are located from shipping to their door/dock, the same is true for companies and their suppliers. Having visibility into your supplier’s inventory levels and how quickly your order is moving in transit helps your business provide a better experience overall.
8. Warehouse rent is likely to increase at a slower pace in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the same Cushman & Wakefield report. Industrial rent in the US went up an average of 4.6% from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020, setting a record high last year. Warehouse and distribution rent rose 5.6% in the same quarter.
9. 79% of companies with high performing supply chains achieve revenue growth above average within their industries
High-performing supply chains entail enterprise visibility, automation, and optimization of fulfillment processes. Implementing these features creates value beyond just saving yourself from a headache.
10. Supply chain disruptions can cause significant negative losses in terms of finances (62%), logistics (54%) and reputation (54%). The biggest supply chain disruptions, on top of Coronavirus, are: mergers and acquisitions (66%), extreme weather (41%), factory fire (37%) and business sale (33%).
Disruptions are unplanned and usually unavoidable, however, in order to overcome these, businesses need a plan in place. It may seem like a one-off disruption with the pandemic, however, there are many other disruptions that could occur more frequently such as extreme weather.
11. Human error is the #1 of fulfillment issues.
12. 3.5x is the average number of times a customer looks up tracking on their order
With more choices than ever, customers have grown impatient waiting on orders to arrive. Customers want to know at all times where their order is and when it is expected to arrive.
13. 63% of consumers expect a standard delivery to arrive within three days of ordering.
Three-day shipping is slowly becoming a new expectation for ground shipping. This desire will only become more of an expectation across the board as the use of same-day and one-day delivery increases.
Ready to start optimizing after reading these supply chain statistics? Ask a Deposco team member how we can help your business overcome these challenges.