Retailers to Unlock Sourcing Resilience through Supplier Diversification and Nearshoring

Retailers to Unlock Sourcing Resilience through Supplier Diversification and Nearshoring

This IDC study is about the steps that retailers are taking to manage global omni-channel sourcing and supply chains. These operations post challenges on a good day; unmanageable disruption of the flow of inventory can be a business killer, sending consumers to the competition. To mitigate supply chain and sourcing risk, retailers are looking to diversify and nearshore their sources of supply to provide resilience and speed. From this expansion of nodes emerges even greater complexity that must be managed through digital transformation of enterprises and networks. "Today, because of the challenges of serving an omni-channel customer from a globally extended and often single sourcing network, there is another trend emerging in retail: supplier diversification and — as either a subset of diversification or a standalone strategy — nearshoring," says Jordan K. Speer, research director, IDC Retail Insights. "As retailers look to mitigate risk in sourcing and supply chains, supply diversification is the top course of action that they are taking to do so. Nearshoring is also a priority for many retailers. To be clear, production is not going to return in entirety to its home regions. Nonetheless, what is old is new again. As retailers and brands confront the increasing challenges and greater complexity, they find that sourcing products closer to home comes with benefits both tangible and intangible."

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