IT Systems Channel Operations, Essay Example

Calculating Supply and Demand in the U.S. grocery sector

With the resurgence of consumer spending in 2010 post deep recession in the preceding two years, retailers are now more than ever interested in retaining market leverage with the hopes that consumer confidence will mean long-term commitment by investors and sustainable growth into the future. While not quite as ‘alternative’ in focus as new market queries about consumer behavior and spending connected to fields such as energy or ‘green’ development endeavors, the old bastion of consumer enfranchisement in market analyses, retail, is once again at the forefront of quantitative interest. Formative market analysis in this area offers a renewed glimpse into the relationship between the private sphere and government stimulus policies intended to boost spending by the consumer segment in the national economy. The foregoing is a case analysis of the retail grocery industry.

Contributory qualitative data to quantitative studies of aggregate supply and demand, offers much in terms of determinant factors in trend analyses of the retail grocery industry. Product segments sold by grocery conglomerates might shift in terms of diversification, but not in terms of demand. Internal incorporation of the dynamic into IT systematized operations for dissemination of data for accounting, inventory, logistics and consumer marketing operations is crucial for competitive performance in the industry. At present, the retail grocery industry in the U.S. is comprised of about 65,000 supermarkets and other grocery stores with combined annual revenue of about $465 billion, of which seventy percent of those sales are generated by fifty of the largest companies (Hoovers). The stable supply side of grocery retail economics, then, provides fertile ground for interpretation of consumer confidence and preference. To this end, aggregate analyses of grocery retail look to the minutia proffered by consumers themselves, the companies that distribute, inventory and market those goods, and of course, tendered sales.

Retailers now look to IT solutions for accountability of volume flow of goods in distribution-to-market operation, and serves as a tracking instrument of supply record. Operations based retail channel marketing also provides an up-to-the-minute results based picture of consumer demand. Interface of UPC coded inventory and logistics with marketing and point-of-sale (POS) integrates information for close-in, close to ‘zero’ inventory controls and consumer choice toward improved speed to market capabilities. From a sectoral perspective IT based solutions advance knowledge sharing, with that the capacity of companies to synthesize brand strategy with retail strategy, product to market execution, and ultimately accountability to investors.

Works Cited

U.S. Grocery Industry Report. Hoovers, 2010. Web.