Supply Chain Challenges

5 Tips for Retailers on Supply Chain Changes

By Katie Gustafson, Marketing Communication Specialist, AmericanHort, KatieG@AmericanHort.org

We all know the issues in the supply chain and how they are impacting retail business today. During a recent AmericanHort webinar, Keep Your Cash Flow Going. You Earned It So Keep It, a discussion took place on best practices around inventory availability, brand changes, and keeping retail margins in line with rising retail landed costs. Here are our top five takeaways from that discussion.

1. Give your employees the tools and information to talk about price raises and other awkward topics.

With the ongoing labor challenges our industry faces, it continues to be of paramount importance to keep employees happy, informed, fulfilled, and supported. One of the hardest conversations an employee can have with a customer is, “Why is everything so much more expensive?”—especially if that employee is already struggling with inflation at home. Have transparency with your employees and a company-approved answer for that, and other awkward topics, so that they can be prepared for that question. 2. Inventory accuracy is mandatory.

Inventory processes may look different for everyone, but the only true factor to determining if it is a good process is if it is accurate. An accurate inventory process will decrease employee (and your own) stress, help with product visibility, and give you the option to move into e-commerce as the world continues to drive that direction.

3. Businesses need to focus on landed costs.

Catch your landed costs on the frontend, before product arrives, with the best estimate you can. This can be difficult,

especially with today’s supply chain issues, but is extremely important in allowing you to maintain your margins. 4. Omni-channel is changing and growing.

Omni-channel refers to all of the ways consumers are finding your business.

More and more consumers are finding businesses and purchasing online. It is important to keep up with the market trend of online visibility by investing in your website, SEO, social media marketing, e-commerce and more— whether or not your actual sale is made online. (P.S. Inventory accuracy and availability is extremely important to consumers finding you online). 5. Evaluate your business personality with your customers.

Your business has a personality in the eyes of your customers—whether you set out to have one or not. It is important that the personality customers see is accurate to who you are and want to be. Some good options to learn the personality that your customers see is to create some focus groups or bring in a secret shopper.

To access the full webinar recording, visit

AmericanHort.org/KC.

2022: November

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