Collaborative Supply Chain platforms: vectors of customer satisfaction?
Published on 17 December 2020
By providing visibility into the operations of the company, suppliers and providers, a collaborative platform applied to the Supply Chain enables different stakeholders along the supply chain to better work together. It’s a great asset to control costs, but also to improve customer satisfaction. To what extent is this possible? How can collaborative platforms improve the company’s mission? Generix Group takes stock of the strengths in collaborating to better meet customer expectations.
An optimal shopping experience
With the rise of digital commerce, consumers have increased their demands for products and services. To meet these new needs, distributors and online retailers are now required to adapt in terms of SEO and logistics services. Faced with this challenge, collaborative platforms are the solution to help companies to keep the promise made to their customers.
Meet needs with a wide variety of options
Accustomed to having diverse and competitive offers, customers today want to be able to choose between multiple products that meet their needs. The logistical challenge for businesses is to offer an extensive product catalog, based on a wide range of suppliers. What is the final goal? - Responding in a diversified way to customer requests and retaining the customer by offering a large selection of products.
Supplier repositories can double or triple, while product choices may grow to five or ten times the number of references. The collaborative portal will therefore automate a large number of operations to avoid a significant increase in management costs.
Most products will never go into storage but will need to be delivered directly by the supplier. Logistics collaboration portals will enable this type of process to be implemented at a lower cost while coordinating cooperation between stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, logisticians, carriers and service providers.
Share product availability
To have an optimal shopping experience, customers need to be reassured at all stages of their order and, if necessary, be able to return a product easily. Faced with these requirements, customer information is a real asset for retailers who must be able to track all logistics operations related to the supply and return of goods. What is the goal here? - To inform consumers in real time about the stock of available or returned products. With the collaborative platform, collecting stock data throughout the distribution process is made simpler.
Describe product features extensively
To be sure that products meet their needs, consumers need to know specific characteristics such as dimensions, composition, features, etc. With a collaborative platform, vendors can collect this data from suppliers more easily and make it available to consumers.
Improved visibility of B2B and B2C logistics operations
With a collaborative portal, companies can get a consolidated view of the logistics operations carried out at every stage of the Supply Chain including providers, warehouses and carriers. The collaborative portal ensures the traceability of all operations conducted by each step in the process. Once available, this information can be sent to the final customer to inform them of their order processing (preparation, delivery tracking, etc.).
A B2B customer can benefit similarly from reliable information about their purchases. Informed throughout the supply process, they can improve operations planning and task management.
Introducing value-added services
Product customization
Through this consumer-friendly mode of consumption, brands can satisfy the need to customize products requested by their customers, while maintaining originality.
Delivery scheduling
Through this innovative service, consumers are given the opportunity to select a delivery date and time from a calendar based on their availability. Flexibility and comfort are key.
Returning goods
The return of goods is critical in an online purchase and has become an undeniable method of attaining customer loyalty. It contributes to a positive customer experience and can generate upsell when returning to a physical store. For delivery drivers, it’s also a great opportunity to increase the volume of services.
By granting further visibility of all logistics operations, collaborative platforms provide numerous advantages for the various Supply Chain stakeholders. These include reducing costs, improving service quality, enhancing general performance and increasing customer satisfaction. Want to know more? Download our e-book “How and why collaborative platforms have become essential to the Collaborative Supply Chain.”
