Startups are making it easy for traditional offline companies to transition to omni-channel.

Several legacy companies are leaving money on the table by not providing their consumers a truly omni-channel experience.

While omni-channel is rapidly becoming mainstream, companies find it challenging to transition from a pure offline player to an omni-channel player, or vise-versa.

This is because their existing supply chains and distribution networks are not designed for the omni-channel world. Traditional supply chains and distribution models do not have the nimbleness that is required for efficiently servicing a combination of offline and online channels.

In an omni-channel environment, it is not certain if the consumer will check the product on mobile and buy from an offline store, or if he/she will check the product in an offline store and then research on the web from the office and finally order it online from home via a mobile app. And so, where does the brand stock the product? If more inventory is kept at the stores, there could be a stockout in online stores. And if more goods are stored in warehouses/micro-warehouses then there could be stockouts at stores.

To be omni-channel ready, brands need the nimbleness to dynamically move stock from nearby micro-warehouses to where the need is — either in offline stores, or dark stores of quick-commerce players or to fulfilment centers from where e-commerce fulfilment partners can service the demand.

This is where startups can play an enabling role and help companies make the transition from purely offline to truly omni-channel easy and seamless for companies. And also cost-effective.

These solutions by tech startups can be integrated into enterprise ERP systems using APIs, transforming legacy offline companies into dynamic omni-channel enterprises.

Technology and digitisation of the entire supply chain operations is super critical in making the transition to omni-channel wherein the number of stakeholders increases multifold and synchronisation between different stakeholders becomes critical.

Here are some examples of innovative solutions from our portfolio at Supply Chain Labs that enterprises can easily adopt to transition into an omni-channel experience and capture the market potential that already exists for them.

Platforms like Stylumia provide ai-based demand forecasting for brands. They have consistently delivered >30% better demand estimation on not just what products to sell, but where the demand is likely to be. This helps brands plan their inventory management far better.

Platforms like Edgistify enable brands the flexibility to book warehouses and last mile fulfilment services on-demand — book as much as you need as and when needed instead of having to invest in your own warehouses and logistics network. This allows brands to be cost-effective and yet have a superior experience for servicing their retail channels or consumers.

Solutions like Tusker are helping brands service their retailers in tier 2, 3 and 4 towns a lot more effectively, including daily replenishments of stocks in retail outlets and micro-fulfilment centres in rural areas. Tusker offers an on-demand and pay-per-use business model.

Companies like Just Deliveries, which offer efficient intra-city logistics for perishables, are enabling FMCG brands of products like dairy products, cakes & pastries, meat, ice-creams, eggs, etc. to replenish stock in stores and restaurants a few times a day thus allowing them not just keep fresher stock but also reduce wastages.

SAAS platforms like Omnivio provide brands a control tower for managing synchronisation between different stakeholders.

In case you are seeing similar supply chain related challenges, the SCL team can help you curate a solution or a set of solutions that can collectively address the challenges / use cases that you need solutions for.

Connect with me on LinkedIn on https://www.linkedin.com/in/prajaktraut/ if you have comments or questions about my views in this article or any of my other posts.

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Prajakt Raut — Managing Partner Supply Chain Labs — A Venture Capital Fund investing in startups disrupting supply chain.