Supply chain management is gaining focus in China
We attended the Supply Chain Executive World Summit in Shanghai in September and were struck by the recent advances in supply chain management (SCM) in China. Not so long ago, in our line of work, we had trouble getting Chinese businesspeople to consider the SCM body of knowledge and how their enterprises could benefit by applying it. Now, it is quite clear that the tide has turned.
Until recently, it seemed to us, the typical Chinese business person was more worried about increasing capacity and simply satisfying demand through brute effort. Few took the time to see how SCM principles and practices could help them satisfy demand, nor were they worried about achieving cost reductions. Given the prevailing correction in the Chinese economy, they are becoming more thoughtful about such matters.
The key in retail is SCM.
China is ideal for e-commerce because there is a huge population and traditional retail is not as developed as in other large countries.
Business to Consumer (B2C) is developing the most quickly for Yihaodian, which has built good credibility in the field, while the mobile internet is enabling shopping anywhere, anytime.
Via e-commerce, the company can cover the whole country 24/7, with limitless storage and offerings. In future, with mobile, it will be able to penetrate more third- and fourth-tier cities.
The “internet of things” will drive people more and more to e-retail, cloud services, online finance, market segmentation and personalisation.
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