THE LOGISTICS OF DISCOUNT SUPERMARKET

The Logistics of Discount Supermarket

Logistics Of Discount Supermarket

Introduction

The following paper is a discussion about how logistic management has been one of the major issues of concern for businesses for several years. In the present era of extremely competitive markets, increased level of globalization and expansion of organization's operations to a global scale, it has become increasingly important for the firms to fully integrate their overall operations so that they can develop a competitive edge over their competitors in terms of timely delivery, efficient customer service and improved performance. Advancement in technology, development of innovative information systems and their successful implementation on different business enterprises has made the task of logistic management more effective and easier to mange. However, it is important to note that these newly developed information systems just functions as the facilitators in managing the logistic management activities and it is still the responsibility of the management of any given organizations to plan and manage the overall logistic and inventory management activities. (Allnoch, 1997) The impact of the challenge posed by logistic management issues can be huge on the firms, especially for the retailing organizations. For retailers as well as the manufacturers, logistic management can serve as one of the most significant areas of differentiation.

It can help the organization to gain an edge over its competitors if they manage their logistic management systems well. On the other hand, if the organization fails to realize the importance of logistic and ignores this crucial aspect of business, it can prove to be a considerable burden for the organization. Realizing the importance of logistic, in enabling an organization to successfully compete in the market, researchers and management experts have been working out to identify strategies and practices which may enable the companies to improve its capabilities in terms of matching supply and demand for its products. It is also interesting to note that in case of retail businesses, effective logistic management has become an essential aspect of business as the life cycles of the majority of the products have shortened because of an increase in competition.

Discussion

With a rise in competition among the organizations, one can observe an increase in the breadth of product offerings in the market, which leads to a shorter product life cycle. With the introduction of a new product in the market, the life cycle of some other products, offered in the same product category, tends to reduce. (Weil, 1997) It has therefore become essential for the retail firms to effectively manage their logistics so that they can efficiently manage the supply and demand aspects of a certain products according to its changing life cycle stages. It requires a clearly defined and reliable forecast, with respect to the future demands of products. It should however be noted that presently the majority of the forecasting techniques and tools employed by retailing firms are focused towards products having long life cycles.

Logistics in the super market

In the retailing segment, the dominant players are the large supermarket chains, ...