Future of Retail Sourcing and Procurement in India

Indian retail industry is going through a massive transformation, which is fuelled by several factors including rising household expenses, increased consumerism, e-tailing, demographics, etc. Today, the Indian retail industry holds more than 10% of the country’s entire GDP. Indian retail industry has been experiencing phenomenal growth from the last decade and the growth continues. Moreover, digitization is further escalating this growth and opens up a horizon of scopes for disruptive customer-centric businesses. These advancements are rebuilding retail supply chains. Digital procurement solutions are taking place. Even the ways of sourcing subcontractors are going digital.

In the Indian retail industry, procurement management provides access to data that was unavailable earlier. It can streamline huge data sets by implementing more complex analysis and supply strategies. Technologies have increased operational efficiencies. Modern-day procurement solutions help the companies connect many more physical and digital inputs. They enable the procurement managers to make firm decisions and improve:

  • Insights and strategies that can lead to better leadership
  • Process excellence to gain organizational efficiency and effectiveness
  • Supply chain and risk management
Future of Retail Sourcing and Procurement in India

Ruling Trends Highlighting the Future of Indian Retail Sourcing and Procurement

Visibility is an important term in retail supply chain management. With more information coming out of digital technologies, visibility is also increasing in-stock availability and assortment mix. Digitization allows retailers to redefine relations with vendors or other brands. Solutions based on Blockchain technologies have already been launched to improve contract management. Vendor payments are also getting streamlined.

Retailers, nowadays, are focusing on collaboration with brand partners who are eager to experiment with virtual showrooms and displays with the use of virtual reality. Shopping behaviour is important for retail business owners and now they can easily gather data to analyse the shopping behaviour of their target audience. It not only helps them improve the product quality but also helps procure staff who can treat the customers accordingly. Several online platforms have enabled businesses to hire procurement freelancers in India.

Listed below are a few trends that will be ruling in the coming years:

  • Today’s retail sourcing and procurement managers are adept with an extremely fluid market having tight margins. If you want your business to survive, you should try to gain visibility in supplier relationships and sales performance. It can decrease the number of leakages and optimize the operations properly. Always remember that you can use the contracts for meeting the challenges.
  • In the retail industry, paperwork plays a vital role. Every day loads of paper works are done. By using an efficient cloud-based contract management system, the processes can be made much easier.
  • Digital procurement solutions can reduce operational costs by cutting down printing and consumable costs. Moreover, they make the processes faster than the previous old models. It also helps the sourcing subcontractors to scrutiny the papers online.
  • Indian retail industry is introduced to a comparatively new trend - electronic hand signature. Signature pads let the procurement management team capture electronic handwritten signatures. Such an electronic magnetic device ensures a low cost of ownership.
  • The Indian retail supply and procurement industry is changing rapidly. Each retail business needs to keep up with these changes; otherwise, they would fail to leave a mark on the contemporary retail industry. To deal with modern technologies and changing procurement processes, many people hire skilled and efficient procurement freelancers in India.

These are the trends that can make the future of retail sourcing and procurement brighter in India.

Read: The Upcoming Retail Trends – 2021 Prerogatives

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