The Amazon-Walmart Battle Royale is All About Supply Chain (and Inventory Optimization)

[IanInsights] – How did the supply chain become so sexy? Once the domain of just a few logistics specialists, it seems to have caught the public’s attention lately. That’s what a random stranger who caught the chairlift with me this weekend wanted to discuss. Not the fresh powder, perfect temperature and peak skiing conditions. He passionately made the case for how the supply chain can help him get new ski poles faster.

The supply chain has certainly captured Wall Street’s attention too, when investors recently sent Walmart’s stock plummeting more than 10 percent following the Q4 2017 earnings report. That’s because the world’s largest company saw a major slow-down for e-commerce growth. Worse yet, it ran out of popular, common items during the December holiday. Meanwhile Amazon is estimated to have accounted for 50 percent of all online sales during that holiday period. (read more)