Stronger supplier engagement through AI tools
= Summary: Ed Betts explains that the time to reach for advanced tools is now – and the opportunity to optimise retail processes does not have to be disruptive or difficult
Managing supplier interactions can be a minefield. Each vendor comes with different demands and expectations; every product line, promotion and media campaign stretches retail teams further. Finding the space required to jump on growth opportunities is difficult because major suppliers dominate, potentially alienating the smaller suppliers that could present incremental growth opportunities.
Every retailer must approach the next few years with evolution in mind. Suppliers expect sharper engagement, and they deserve it. By embracing today’s keystone technology – elements like artificial intelligence (AI), process automation, and big data – retailers on the cutting edge will unlock the core of algorithmic retailing.
Download the whitepaper: The Digital Transformation of Supplier Collaboration
AI step-by-step
Embracing the power of AI, machine learning, and retail algorithms does not mean refactoring every business process at once, neither does it mean ceding control to a monolithic AI engine. The process of rolling out AI tools can be done one step at a time, focusing on areas which make the biggest difference.
There’s also no loss of control involved. Business operations and supplier relationships remain in the hands of the retailer: AI tools are about smoothing and streamlining processes, discovering and presenting relevant data to help difficult decisions become easier to make. Built-in guard rails ensure retailers get the results they want within clear boundaries and allow AI tools to work within a retailer’s aims in terms of profits, uplift, and margins.
Powerful planning opportunities
Every aspect of a business could benefit from an upgrade. AI-driven Joint Business Planning tools, for example, strengthen one’s ability to build long-term stability by aiding the construction of regulation-compliant, data-driven activity plans, and can contribute directly to sales and operational planning.
AI tools could help bring assortment planning into focus, automatically highlighting opportunities which might otherwise have been missed; they might allow for promotions to be planned early, with full knowledge of available funds. AI is, put simply, an optimisation wherever it ends up.
Tracking and reporting as standard
With today’s cutting-edge tools in place, key staff become free to focus on strategy, not bureaucracy. AI-driven negotiation ensures every party gets the deal they’re looking for. Algorithmic analysis tracks potential vendor funds or deal availability automatically, helping build a promotional advantage. The right tools and data boost the certainty and rigidity of one’s decisions, and create agility too.
Awareness is key. The data alignment which comes with AI analysis makes the whole business aware of current and future opportunities. Supplier offerings and new funding opportunities can be tracked and brought forward as soon as they appear; alerts and notifications can be AI driven to ensure they are not only made but seen. And a business must run smoothly: AI tools could drive assortment control, optimise promotional decisions or even generate region-specific media which does not fall foul of regulatory differences.
Knowing exactly how a promotion has performed will inform the next. Smart tools can create these post-promotion reports, of course, but they can also feed from them, taking past performance into account and providing relevant feedback when a business comes to consider its next steps.
Next-generation supplier management
What might be most surprising is that this is not a futuristic view. It’s not a prediction. The technology is ready to go, it can be incorporated into one’s business today, and retailers cannot afford to lag behind.
In a market where volatility has become the norm, managing supplier interactions has never been more crucial. Legacy systems simply cannot adapt quickly enough to the demands placed on them. Retailers must marshal every possible tool to ensure suppliers are not only happy but offering the best deal they can.
Integrating foundational AI capabilities – even through one or two modular AI tools – can make a marked difference. It’s a step in the right direction, and a building block towards moving one’s business to the powerful business-wide algorithmic retailing models which represent the true next generation of doing business. Make the change, and your suppliers will thank you.
Download The Digital Transformation of Supplier Collaboration whitepaper to understand the steps that should be taken to ensure retail success against a backdrop of market uncertainty.
