How Retail Marketing and Supply Chain Teams Can Work Better Together To Delight Customers and Boost Profits

Retail marketing and retail supply chain are two critical departments within a retail organization that are responsible for different but closely related aspects of the business. While retail marketing is focused on promoting and selling the company’s products and services, retail supply chain is focused on ensuring that the right products are available in the right quantities at the right time to meet customer demand. Despite their shared goal of driving sales and profitability, these two departments can sometimes experience conflicts due to differences in priorities and objectives.

Promotions and Campaigns

One common area of conflict between retail marketing and retail supply chain is in the management of promotions and events. Retail marketing may plan and execute promotional campaigns and events such as sales and discounts, in-store events and online promotions to drive sales and increase customer loyalty. However, these promotions can put pressure on the retail supply chain department, as they may require more inventory than usual to be available in a short period of time. This can lead to issues such as stockouts, excess inventory, and increased costs.

To address this conflict, it is important for retail marketing and retail supply chain to work closely together and communicate effectively. Retail marketing should provide detailed information about upcoming promotions and events to retail supply chain well in advance, including the expected sales lift and the duration of the promotion. Retail supply chain should also provide regular updates on inventory levels and lead times, to help retail marketing plan promotions and events in a way that minimizes the impact on the supply chain.

New Product Launches

Another typical conflict between retail marketing and retail supply chain is in the management of new product launches. Retail marketing may want to launch a new product as soon as possible to capitalize on market trends and generate sales, while retail supply chain may want to wait until there is enough inventory available to meet demand. To address this conflict, retail marketing and retail supply chain should work together to establish a launch schedule that balances the need to capitalize on market trends with the need to ensure that there is enough inventory available to meet demand. Retail supply chain should also be involved in the planning of new product launches, to ensure that the products are available and that the promotions can be executed seamlessly.

The Bottom Line – retail marketing and retail supply chain are two critical departments that are responsible for different but closely related aspects of the business. While retail marketing is focused on promoting and selling the company’s products and services, retail supply chain is focused on ensuring that the right products are available in the right quantities at the right time to meet customer demand. Despite their shared goal of driving sales and profitability, these two departments can sometimes experience conflicts due to differences in priorities and objectives. To address these conflicts, it is important for retail marketing and retail supply chain to work closely together, communicate effectively, and establish processes that balance the need to capitalize on market trends with the need to ensure that there is enough inventory available to meet demand. Learn more about how retail merchandise planning software like omnithink.ai can allow retail marketing and supply teams accurate forecast demand, improve promotion planning and execution and collaborate on inventory and suppliers.