Digital disaster
13 September 2012
Sainsbury’s put a sophisticated automated supply chain in place to help make it the market leader again, but instead produced the first loss in the company’s history. Liam O’Brien reports
Stock availability is about as basic as it gets in the world of supermarket food retailing. Retailers call it the “first moment of truth” for the consumer. If the store has not got the product on the shelves, the customer cannot buy it. And if the retailer cannot sell it, it misses a sales and profit opportunity. Along with competitive prices and short queues at the...