Maximising competitiveness through the supply chain

Discusses how retailers can best deal with a potential issue of a retail downturn. States that if retailing enters a downturn retailers will need to make the most of their supply chains in order to safeguard their competitiveness. Reveals that, in order to realise fully the benefits of supply chain management, retailers will have to develop end‐to‐end integration of systems from manufacturers to shop floor which will reduce costs, improve distribution and inventory management and thus customer loyalty. Concludes that these advances are essential for all businesses now since the technology boosted supply chain is a natural area for retailers to increase efficiency and, potentially, market share.