Twitter debate: Are ecommerce and supply chain teams working together effectively?

Delivery has undoubtedly become a crucial battlefield for retailers trading online and for the purpose of creating a winning fulfilment proposition, consistency across business functions is imperative.

However, a recently published report from Retail Week and MetaPack based on exclusive, anonymous in-depth interviews with leading retailers, reveals a notable split in delivery ownership between the operationally focused supply chain and more trading-minded ecommerce teams.

For instance, speed is viewed as more important to consumers by ecommerce executives, with 83% of those surveyed ranking it as a top three customer priority compared with just a third of supply chain personnel.

Meanwhile, building consumers’ choice of customer delivery window is among nearly a third of retailers’ top three investment priorities over the next 12 months. But it’s viewed as more important by ecommerce professionals, with 27% of those surveyed ranking precision as their top investment priority, compared with just 9% of their supply chain counterparts.

Investment priorities around delivery can also swing based on job function. Some 27% of supply chain specialists claim investing in fulfilment hubs is their company’s main capital expenditure around delivery, compared with just 9% of ecommerce professionals.

Join @retailweek and @MetaPack on Monday 20 June at 12.30pm to debate how to go about bridging the gap between ecommerce and supply chain for a winning delivery proposition.

Share your views and take part by using the hashtag #thedeliverygap.