A short history of the future of Retail Supply Chains

Lorna Corbyn has been helping retailers improve their merchandising and and supply chain operations since the late 90's (as she reminds us).  We talk about the potential of autonomous  supply chains, AI and the new cool that is Analytics and Data Science and how these new tools are changing the way we approach buying, merchandising and supply planning.

Connectivity is key and we talk about the new models for collaboration and just how far we can with black box AI, how to achieve agility and maintain adaptability.  Lorna thinks we are at key moment in the evolution of retail. While adaptability is key we try to imagine what the future might look like while reminiscing about a time when it was all about stores and you would not even think of keeping stock in the warehouse.  The model has flipped today and we reflect on how retail is migrating towards shared selling platforms, show-rooming and keeping your stock in the warehouse so that you can maintain your adaptability to get the product to where the customer is.

This was a big episode and we kept recording even after I signed off so carry on listening for some bonus material.

Contact Lorna through LinkedIn here

Subscribe to the podcast here