International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc507671867 \h 32.0 Information Flow PAGEREF _Toc507671868 \h 33.0 Material flow PAGEREF _Toc507671869 \h 44.0 Management of Warehouses PAGEREF _Toc507671870 \h 65.0 Unqualified Management of Physical Goods PAGEREF _Toc507671871 \h 86.0 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc507671872 \h 96.1 Flow of Information PAGEREF _Toc507671873 \h 127.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc507671874 \h 12Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc507671875 \h 14
International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
1.0 Introduction
Numerous challenges have been reported concerning Black Friday and Cyber Monday online shopping, with customers having to wait for many hours before orders are delivered and sometimes being told that the inventory has been depleted or they receive expired stock. Furthermore, shoppers are often exposed to stampedes when doing physical shopping, especially when they want to get the great offers at low prices that are offered during Black Friday (Goldman, 2016). In e-commerce, evidence suggests that the fabulous and low prices are some of the areas that are often exposed to numerous challenges, including the competitiveness of each transaction. This paper critically analyzes the logistical challenges associated with Black Friday online shopping. Some of the problems that will be analyzed include management of warehouses, untimely logistic information, unqualified management of physical goods, product quality, product damage, and irregular online information.
2.0 Information Flow
To meet the expectations of consumers during Black Friday (BF) and Cyber Monday (CM), online and physical operations should be made flexible, integrated, and seamless to enhance the efficiency of its operations. Studies have revealed that the modern day consumers demand higher visibility of the logistic operations, faster delivery times, notification and tracking of shipments, and better customization of product variety (Lopez, 2017). Nevertheless, evidence has revealed that customers are exposed to numerous problems, especially when it comes to online shopping, since e-commerce logistics are yet to be effectively managed. It is evident that the whole shopping season, which includes BF and CM, shines a spotlight on the complexities and challenges associated with e-commerce. Therefore, supply chain experts should be prepared and concentrate on improving the consumer experience by ensuring that the supply chain is optimized with standardized automation and processes.
The chief sales and marketing officer at DX Paul Doble says that retailers during the Christmas shopping season should be able to focus on accurate estimation of the volumes that will be needed during this period. Retailers should have the capacity of working with their logistics partners to ensure that there is accurate estimation. However, the greatest challenge that online shoppers face includes poor communication, inaccurate planning, and demand outstrips capacity, weather conditions that are unanticipated, and other problems that cause businesses to be unable to fulfill the promises they make to online customers (Procurious, 2014). He ad...