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The omni-channel supply chain, circa 2000

Two years ago I began writing about retail e-commerce, mainly highlighting the struggles that brick-and-mortar retailers have had competing against the likes of Amazon.com.

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This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the July-August 2016 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

July-August 2016

What’s the difference between us and our competitors? Our people!” I can’t think of an organization that doesn’t publicly state that its people are its most important asset. Yet, anyone who has been in the workforce for any length of time knows that when the rubber hits the road—or something else hits the fan—people are usually the first casualty of cost cutting. It’s far easier to free up your talent for “other opportunities” than it is to close a plant or sell a fleet of trucks.
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Two years ago I began writing about retail e-commerce, mainly highlighting the struggles that brick-and-mor¬tar retailers have had competing against the likes of Amazon.com. Amazon succeeded in being the “Wal-Mart of the Internet” by innovating a supply chain designed to dominate large-scale, on-line, unit-based order fulfillment. My two columns on the subject were: “Holiday e-commerce: Innovation required” (Jul/Aug 2014) and “e-commerce innovation needed by retailers” (Mar/Apr 2015).

The big e-story these days is omni-channel retail supply chains. Consultants and software companies have been aggressively marketing their wares largely to business-to-consumer (B2C) supply chains. But, what about business-to-business (B2B) supply chains? More importantly, what about hybrid B2B and B2C chains? Surely (by definition) these, too, are omni-channel.

The e-business book
The only book project I was ever a part of was as a co-author of a book written by AMR Research (now part of Gartner Inc.) and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Commissioned in April 2000 by the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), now the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), our job was to provide practical advice to its members about leveraging the Internet. The research added to the knowledge our organizations previously had on where things were headed. The book had two themes:

  • Internet leverage. How companies were leveraging the Internet and electronic connectivity to support and enhance current supply chain management processes and practices.
  • New business models. What leading companies were doing to align their supply chains in support of new e-business models for conducting business over the Web, including internal productivity enhancements and external benefits.
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From the July-August 2016 edition of Supply Chain Management Review.

July-August 2016

What’s the difference between us and our competitors? Our people!” I can’t think of an organization that doesn’t publicly state that its people are its most important asset. Yet, anyone who has been in the…
Browse this issue archive.
Access your online digital edition.
Download a PDF file of the July-August 2016 issue.

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Two years ago I began writing about retail e-commerce, mainly highlighting the struggles that brick-and-mor¬tar retailers have had competing against the likes of Amazon.com. Amazon succeeded in being the “Wal-Mart of the Internet” by innovating a supply chain designed to dominate large-scale, on-line, unit-based order fulfillment. My two columns on the subject were: “Holiday e-commerce: Innovation required” (Jul/Aug 2014) and “e-commerce innovation needed by retailers” (Mar/Apr 2015).

The big e-story these days is omni-channel retail supply chains. Consultants and software companies have been aggressively marketing their wares largely to business-to-consumer (B2C) supply chains. But, what about business-to-business (B2B) supply chains? More importantly, what about hybrid B2B and B2C chains? Surely (by definition) these, too, are omni-channel.

The e-business book
The only book project I was ever a part of was as a co-author of a book written by AMR Research (now part of Gartner Inc.) and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Commissioned in April 2000 by the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), now the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), our job was to provide practical advice to its members about leveraging the Internet. The research added to the knowledge our organizations previously had on where things were headed. The book had two themes:

  • Internet leverage. How companies were leveraging the Internet and electronic connectivity to support and enhance current supply chain management processes and practices.
  • New business models. What leading companies were doing to align their supply chains in support of new e-business models for conducting business over the Web, including internal productivity enhancements and external benefits.
SUBSCRIBERS: Click here to download PDF of the full article.

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About the Author

Larry Lapide, Research Affiliate
Larry Lapide's Bio Photo

Dr. Lapide is a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts’ Boston Campus and is an MIT Research Affiliate. He received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement in Business Forecasting & Planning Award from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning. Dr. Lapide can be reached at: [email protected].

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