LogistikPlan industry sector: Retail

The speed of retail logistics processes will increase significantly, as time becomes a critical competitive factor in the race for online customers.

In the future, same-day delivery for consumer goods and fresh products will become standard in Europe, with 12-hour, 6-hour, or even 2-hour delivery windows. This acceleration has major impacts, including

• shifting demand peaks over the course of the day,
• increasing shift work with night premiums,
• growing nighttime deliveries, especially in city centers.

Individualization in retail logistics processes will increase significantly, driven by factors such as

• the combination of individual sales channels into multi- and omni-channel concepts
• expansion of delivery points, from parcel shops and lockers to car trunks
• adaptation of logistics services to specific target groups (e.g. home delivery for elderly people)
• technological methods of single-item production (digital printing, 3D printing)

Automation in retail logistics processes will increase significantly, driven by

• greater consolidation and acceleration of goods flows
• standardization of logistics parameters such as packaging, labeling, and billing
• closer integration of retail and logistics services with customers and their consumer devices (e.g. refrigerators, washing machines)

Quality assurance and environmental protection in retail logistics processes will increase significantly, driven by

• direct consumer feedback via the internet
• growing governmental and voluntary regulations (e.g. returns handling, defect remediation, take-back of used equipment)

• Industry developments:
  • As a result of trade globalization, service orientation, and e-commerce growth, wholesale and specialized wholesale trade are increasingly expanding their traditional core business – the trading of industrial and consumer goods and associated services.
  • At the interface between industry and retail, wholesalers ensure precise supply and redistribution of goods through highly developed logistics systems, handling warehousing and transport optimization, quality assurance, and assortment management.
• Key aspects from LogistikPlan’s perspective:
  • Low-cost online retailers are increasingly pushing advisory-oriented specialist wholesalers into the role of high-quality regional service providers.
  • In B2B business, wholesalers will need to integrate much more closely with their customers’ processes as logistics partners.
  • IT-based integration of material and data flows will intensify. Wholesalers must rely more strongly on standardized concepts for ordering and labeling, transport, and container systems.

• Industry developments:
  • As an export champion, Germany has been an international trading powerhouse for many years in both import and export business. Foreign trade companies handle global trade in industrial and consumer goods:
  • Export traders place German products with industrial and consumer customers in all foreign markets and cover all export-related services, from market entry, financing, and insurance to after-sales service and spare parts business.
  • Import traders supply German and European industry with raw materials, semi-finished, and finished products from abroad. As partners of developing and emerging economies, they transfer know-how on advanced production and product standards to local companies.
• Key aspects from LogistikPlan’s perspective:
  • In global trade, foreign traders are increasingly becoming navigators for their customers and managers of complete logistics process chains.
  • To protect customers against uncertain markets and supply disruptions, traders must assume greater responsibility – from strategic consulting and risk monitoring to operational dispatching.

• with forward-looking site and shipping strategies for growth and regional and international expansion
• with the planning of traditional logistics centers, warehousing, packaging, and shipping solutions
• with the implementation of proven logistics strategies such as Kanban, Just in Time (JIT), and Just in Sequence (JIS)
• with the introduction of innovative automation solutions
• with management consulting for organizational and personnel development
• with coaching and interim management for restructuring and process optimization.