DCV/RILA STUDY ON RETAIL TRENDS
BY TOBY GOOLEY, SENIOR EDITOR
Strategy
THE RETAIL SECTOR HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY DISRUPTED BY TECHNOLOGY,
and retailers of all sizes are battling to manage technology’s impact on their business models. For many of them, gaining control of e-commerce, multichannel and omnichannel
fulfillment, and customers’ expectations of ever-faster and customized delivery is a matter
of survival.
To find out how companies are responding to these and other pressures, the Retail
Industry Leaders Association (RILA) annually polls supply chain executives about their
overall strategies as well as their experiences and plans regarding several “hot topic” areas.
As in the past, this year’s study was conducted by Auburn University’s Harbert College
of Business under the leadership of professor Brian Gibson, with colleagues Rafay Ishfaq,
Cliff Defee, and Elizabeth Davis-Sramek. The researchers surveyed RILA’s members, DC
VELOCITY’s readers, and companies that collaborate with the university’s Center for Supply
Chain Innovation. To round out the picture, the research team conducted telephone interviews with supply chain executives.
This year’s “State of the Retail Supply Chain” report will be released in late February
at RILA’s 2018 Retail Supply Chain Conference in Phoenix. DC VELOCITY will cover the
research findings in two parts: this article, which will focus on the topics discussed in the
Some retailers
are finally making
strides in their
efforts to master
the omnichannel
game. But others
still have a ways
to go.
Are we there yet?
