The importance of logistics to the operation of supermarkets Essay

The importance of logistics to the operation of supermarkets - Essay Example This is because if the products are not made available to these supermarkets, there would be no customers who will visit them in the first place. What this means in essence is the need to realize that supermarkets of today have to rely a great deal on how these logistics shape up the related avenues and how the same will mean success for the related domains. Internationally, logistics and transportation play a vital role in forecasting, production planning and materials planning as it is the bridge for all these things to occur in the first place within any supermarket chain. If any of these supply chain processes need to occur and that too in a quick manner, the need of the hour is to devise ways and means through which the logistics amongst the channel members speeds up and this is only possible if there is goodwill and understanding between the different parties who are at varied levels of the trade structure (Levy, 1995). They have to comprehend that the other party will profit t hem and thus the whole logistics process would automatically fasten up as a result within the supermarkets. ... drastically cut and there is a huge benefit for all the parties concerned and more than that the customers themselves as they are the ones who get the best value for money within the supermarkets. If they receive a competing product with the same quality and value levels but at a low price, they will definitely go for it and make it their habit to buy it from some other supermarket chain (Ebert, 1990). This would reduce costs as well as improve customer service because then this supermarket would think that if it provides better value for money, people will throng the supermarket for the goods offered by it and hence more sale will be made, both in the short term as well as in the long run. Thus it benefits both the parties – at the logistics level and the customers who come back and forth to buy the products offered by the supermarkets. A Rundown on Logistics and Different Activities The question here is as to how logistic activities could benefit the supermarket in the long run, we find that high level of service for the international logistic supermarkets needs to focus on the aspects related with doing the things right rather than just devising what has to be done. Onus should be on doing what exactly needs to be done for the betterment of the trade activities. They must build strong and solid relationships with the different channel members that include the distributors, wholesalers, retailers and other third party vendors. In doing so they ensure that they build strong rapport with them and all of them are linked in a web with each other (Varey, 2001). The support for each other stems from the fact that one party understands the concerns of the other one and hence tries to do its best to make the goods available within the supermarkets as and when the need