In: Operations Management
What is Omni-Channel Distribution and what challenges does it present for Supply Chain Managers?
Omni Channel Distribution is actually a multi channel approach to distribute products in order to provide the customer with a hassle free shopping experience. In today's world, customer satisfaction is a top priority in every business so satisfying customer's demands with the help of multiple channels is known as Omni Channel Distribution. This distribution includes:-
1) Delivery of a product in the stipulated time.
2) Ease of return from the customer in case of refund/replacement.
3) Taking stock from warehouse to deliver to store.
The major challenges present in this distribution for supply chain manager should be:-
a) Not knowing about inventory at the store or warehouse. This is one of the major problems faced by the SCM team during the holiday season or online sale season.
b) Knowning your customer:- It is almost impossible to keep 100% customers happy with respect to products and distribution. So it would be best to know what the customer likes by analyzing their shopping patterns and showing them similar products. So customer knowledge is a big challenge for this type of distribution.
c) Channel specific processes:- Supply chain channel cannot function independently or it should not function independently. This is a big challenge to integrate your SCM with the retailers, stores, warehouse and the online partners (if available).