Known as Goods Not For Retail, or GNFR, packaging, stationery, shopping bags, display items, padding and pallets are just as important as the products they carry. They not only ensure that the goods reach customers in optimal condition – and, in the case of high value sales, often add to that perceived value – but simplify logistics and, in doing so, can help keep expenses under control. Intelligently designed packaging contributes to efficient use of space within containers and stockrooms, which trims costs and helps retailers maximise profits.
It’s easy to understand, therefore, how blockages in the retail supply chain can be caused as much by a lack of packaging and shipping materials as they are by a factory breakdown or dock strike. Fortunately, while not much can be done about the latter, analytics will contribute greatly to avoiding the former.
The benefits of Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence (BI) is key to avoiding backlogs and shortages, allowing both retailers and suppliers to mine data for insights on which they can build strategies that will help them with a whole host of activities. These include avoiding supply interruptions, modelling the impact of changing customer behaviour and forecasting future trends and the strategies required to meet them.
With insights from analytics, it is possible to gain a more comprehensive overview not only of a business’s performance, but its requirements. Using this data to forecast a change in sales – whether an increase or drop – enables managers to ensure the requisite packaging, bags, boxes or pallets have been acquired, and logistics booked for timely deliveries.
Multinational enterprises may choose to implement and maintain their own data solution. However, stand-alone solutions don’t benefit from the insight that can be delivered by a third-party provider like Worldpack, which can use its broad market overview to make proactive recommendations that help keep the supply chain moving, advise on freight scheduling and identify potential cost savings.
Frequently, the best savings can only be made by bulk buying, but not every business has the capacity to stockpile the full range of GNFR they will need to satisfy upcoming demand. At Worldpack, we believe that even the smallest enterprise should enjoy the same benefits as a multinational – wherever possible – which is why we offer the option to pre-order, but only take delivery as and when the supplies are required.
An intelligent partnership
Augmenting a company’s own data with broader market analytics not only gives businesses a more comprehensive overview of their ongoing performance, but places it in context. Business Intelligence sits at the heart of everything Worldpack does, and as experts in our field we can advise on the best time to order – as well as what to order.
With this information accessible through any browser at any time, businesses that partner with Worldpack can make decisions more quickly on the basis of fact, rather than supposition, or past experiences that may no longer hold true. They will also benefit from ongoing guidance from our experienced account management team.
By monitoring key performance indicators and tracking trends and development on your behalf, our account managers can bring clarity to your business. Moreover, as every Worldpack client is paired with an account manager, they can apply that intelligence specifically.
For the retailer, it’s like having expertise bolted on, that only ever gets more effective as the relationship grows.
To find out how you can use business intelligence to forecast trends and plan accordingly, contact Worldpack today +31(0) 88 494 20 80 or email online@worldpack.eu.
