Stocking an Endless Aisle: Conquering Omnichannel with Smarter Partnerships

1 STOCKING AN ENDLESS AISLECONQUERING OMNICHANNEL WITH SMARTER PARTNERSHIPS

INFINITE RETAIL POWERTM

INFINITE RETAIL POWER™

Omnichannel Has Changed Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Consumers Are Driving New Sourcing Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Finding the Right Product Is Just the First Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Suppliers Must Deliver More Than Ever Before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

It Is Harder Than Ever for Suppliers to Get Noticed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Finding the Right Fit in an Omnichannel World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Online Communities Connect Retailers and Suppliers Quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Retail Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Retailers Can Develop the Right Relationships, Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Suppliers Can Highlight Their Competitive Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Are You Ready to Stock an Endless Aisle? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

TABLE OF CONTENTS

This e-book is published by SPS Commerce, a leader in enterprise retail cloud services .

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2 . Stocking an Endless Aisle


In-store

Online

OMNICHANNEL HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING

SupplierB

SupplierA

SupplierC

R E T A I L E R

In a world where connected consumers expect to shop an endless aisle of options, retailers and suppliers are under pressure to deliver.

Mobile



C O N S U M E R S A R E D R I V I N G

NEW SOURCING STRATEGIES

1 . RSR Research Report, 2011 .

Consumers’ preferences are changing so fast that retailers and their suppliers must surround their consumers with an endless aisle of product choices.1

TOP

forRETAILERS

PRIORITY



> The tedious, manual search for a new supplier can take months of back-and-forth and lost sales

> Suppliers must possess new skill sets to help their retail partners navigate the increased complexity

WHEN SOURCING FOR AN OMNICHANNEL WORLD,F I N D I N G T H E R I G H T P R O D U C T I S J U S T T H E F I R S T S T E P



T O L A N D P R O F I TA B L E R E L AT I O N S H I P S W I T H N E W R E TA I L E R S,

SUPPLIERS MUST DELIVER MORE THAN EVER BEFORE

Rich item data, high-quality digital assets

EDI compliance

Live inventory feeds

Direct-to-consumer capabilities

Up-to-the-minute product updates



EVEN IF SUPPLIERS CAN MEET RETAILER DEMANDS, THEY MUST STAND OUT AMONG HUNDREDS

OF OTHER VENDORS.

I T I S H A R D E R T H A N E V E R F O R S U P P L I E R S

TO GET NOTICED



I N A N O M N I C H A N N E L W O R L D ,

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT REQUIRES:

A SOURCING MODEL THAT ELIMINATES

MANUAL BACK- AND-FORTH

REAL-TIME SOURCING DECISIONS

AN INSTANT VIEW OF SUPPLIER

PRODUCTS AND CAPABILITIES

SO RETA ILE RS C A N SC A LE TH E E N DLE SS A ISLE FA STE R .



O N L I N E C O M M U N I T I E S C O N N E C T

RETAILERS AND SUPPLIERS QUICKLY

Make sourcing more efficient because suppliers are already vetted

for specific capabilities

Give retailers access to accurate, thorough details on a universe of qualified suppliers

Provide suppliers with a platform to tout their capabilities

RETAILERS SUPPLIERS



RETAIL UNIVERSE

> The largest retail sourcing community in the industry

> Instantly connects retailers and suppliers electronically so they can take advantage of omnichannel growth



R E TA I L E R S C A N D E V E L O P

THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS, FAST

> Search and find e-commerce-ready suppliers with the specific capabilities and products retailers need



S U P P L I E R S C A N H I G H L I G H T

THEIR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

> Promote products and e-commerce abilities

> Showcase drop-shipping and EDI capabilities

> Share the item data and digital assets retailers demand



FIND MORE PROFITABLETRADING PARTNERRELATIONSHIPS AND SUCCEED IN AN OMNICHANNEL WORLD

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Discover your next trading partner at go.spscommerce.com/ebook

A R E Y O U R E A D Y

TO STOCK AN ENDLESS AISLE?

Education

Stocking an Endless Aisle: Conquering Omnichannel with Smarter Partnerships