REVEALED: Cutting-Edge Supply Chain Innovations Tackling On-Shelf Availability Challenges

It’s a little over two weeks until the showcase finale of our On-Shelf Availability (OSA) Innovation Challenge. These initiatives have the power to tackle some of the stubborn problems in retail today. Each week we will shine a spotlight on one of the focus areas where our innovators will have the biggest impact. This week: the Supply Chain. 

In the ever-evolving world of retail, optimising on-shelf availability means pre-empting challenges before they manifest on the shop floor.

Traditional supply chain management tools and techniques sometimes struggle with the shifting demands of modern retail, leading to gaps on shelves and lost sales.

Supply chain innovations pave the way for more efficient, resilient, and profitable retail operations, focusing especially on curbing retail losses, including shrinkage. 

Our judges were looking for smart approaches to these unique supply chain challenges. 

●        Lack of visibility of previous stock-outs leading to mismatches in inventory records

●        Slow responses to out-of-stock situations that leave shelves empty for extended periods

●        One-size-fits-all approaches to safety stock levels that are unfit for dynamic consumer demand

●        Conflicts in online vs. in-store inventory that lead to fulfilment issues

●        Misaligned case sizes shipped to stores that require excessive back-room storage and increase the risk of theft, damage, or loss.

Standout innovations that impressed our panel of 36 global OSA experts, representing dozens of leading international brands, in the Supply Chain category include:

Digit7

Subcategory: Poor supply chain visibility

Digit7's smart drone enhances on-shelf availability with autonomous mapping and real-time alerts, reducing out-of-stocks and improving inventory visibility and management.

InventoryInsight

Subcategory: Poor inventory record keeping

InventoryInsight leverages advanced machine learning to optimize ASDA’s replenishment, enhancing on-shelf availability and driving significant sales and efficiency gains.

Wiliot

Subcategory: Online vs In-store availability

Wiliot revolutionises on-shelf availability with tiny IoT tags providing real-time, item-level tracking and insights across the supply chain, optimising inventory placement and management.

Will any of these be among the ten finalists selected to pitch to our judges? The only way to find out is to sign up for our OSA Innovation Challenge showcase finale on May 22.