Retail Industry

The retail industry consists of companies that sell goods and services to consumers. There are many different retail sales and store types worldwide. The traditional types of retail stores are what is often referred to as “brick and mortar”, basically physical shops where consumers can go and buy their products. 

Around 2003, online retailing emerged. One of the first companies to start online retailing with its “Apple store” was Apple Computers. Soon many other companies followed. More recently, in an era where online and in-store shopping are becoming intertwined, Click-and-Mortar™ shopping is emerging. This “hybrid” shopping style reflects a growing consumer preference for integration between digital and physical retail experiences. Each of these models have their logistics challenges related to inventory management and the logistics involved. The hybrid click and mortar model presents even more challenges in how to integrate the 2 models into one fulfilment system with multiple inventory cross-points and return processes to manage.

Europhia Consulting was involved with Apple Computers in 2006-2007 to advise the company on the online retailing model in over 30 countries around the world and how to best manage the physical delivery process with regards to final mile complexities. The multiple country studies also looked at the final mile courier/express transportation landscape in each country and benchmarked the network reach and ability of such companies to scale home deliveries domestically and their use of technology to reduce delivery related challenges.