Ep 243: Omnichannel retail supply chain

Retail and e-commerce consultant Richard Umbers (former CEO Star Track, Executive General Manager Parcel & Express Services at Australia Post) joins me to discuss: The rise of e-commerce and the importance of last mile distribution What COVID changes in e-commerce, including online grocery How e-commerce went from discretionary spend to spending on necessities Impact of pandemic on capacity (including cold chain capacity) Innovation in logistics and other parts of e-commerce The hallmarks of omnichannel supply chain Identifying individual parcels in the network, and how that tracking triggers actions Seamless flow of data between order management, CRM, and logistics Interactive Digital Management (IDM) Postal operators and digitisation - giving customers visibility of their shipments Shifts in technology that enable D2C e-commerce E-commerce returns and the omnichannel supply chain Last mile trends in online grocery (speed and type of delivery) Increasing sophistication of the supply chain - and the viabilities of models that rely on that supply chain How data and exchange of data enables modern delivery - including superfast local delivery Future innovation in the last mile and the supply chain