As the supply chain space continues to rapidly evolve, effective visibility remains key for major grocery and CPG brands. Especially when it comes to the three Rs:

• Reduction in late payments
• Reduction in late shipments
• Reduction in chargebacks

With data continuing to grow and operations continuing to expand, improving the in-store and online shopping experience is only a piece of the value-chain optimization program.

On Tuesday at GroceryShop in Las Vegas, Vice President of Category Management Services of Retail Business Services (Ahold Delhaize USA) spoke about best practices for using data effectively that every grocery CPG brand should adhere to. He highlighted the importance of collaborating with your trading partners and sharing data sets to improve your business process. Additionally, he stressed finding a vendor/partner that will help empower your business line with optimal end-to-end supply chain visibility.

I had a chance to interview some of these major retailers and many of the leading supply chain leaders shared a similar sentiment in that chargebacks continue to be an issue that resonates across the industry. Some have stated that due to the archaic way their business operates, with legacy systems in place, they have no idea where the chargebacks might be coming from as there is a lack of full end-to-end visibility throughout their entire procure to pay/order to cash life cycles. Another issue that was highlighted with some of their suppliers was a lack of traceability and inadequate lead time and order inaccuracy.

While the optimization of an excellent consumer shopper experience for both in-store and e-commerce portals are still important to a retailers’ value chain—it’s clear that effectiveness, efficiency, and the overall ability to track and analyze the health of the supply chain is critical. Specifically, having a way to highlight and proactively act upon any inefficiencies immediately is a key target goal for many supply chain leaders in 2020.