How will technology-driven logistics help businesses?

By: RAVI HARI, Senior Writer

A manufacturing company of the 21st century faces the dilemma not of production but the product reaching a customer. The company’s product has to reach a customer at the appropriate time and place and this poses a big challenge. This situation was not seen in the 20th century where the customer was at the whims of the businessman.

A salesperson needs acumen. He/She might face a customer who can move on to another salesperson at instant notice. The role of technology in this regard is great. A customer now has access to a greater basket of goods. Hence, the logistics is a big challenge. The company needs to keep its products spread over a larger area in the market, giving it a ubiquitous image, which shall convince the customer easily.

This requires statistical inputs regarding the sales figures at various market segments and they need to be analyzed well. Based on this, the businessman can design a marketing supply chain strategy.

Here comes big data analytics, the software support to a business company, to focus on his/her past and present decisions in a big way. This analytics comes in quite handy. Thus, the technology driven logistics needs a sales professional quite competent with regard to using the available information to keep competing with the market opportunities.

Thus, the marketing concept as an art of exploring, creating and delivering products of value to a customer at a profit needs to be studied afresh.

Even the traditional supply chain theory comprising of two broad concepts: The Upstream and Downstream referring to the approach of the company to reach the market with the required raw materials, components, parts, finances, information and expertise so that value-based products are created for the customer at designated places.

The downstream involves the wholesaler, the retailer and the customer.

Business logistics thus needs to take care of all the above in a changing and dynamic environment. It needs to take a call on its strategies of market segmentation, targeting, positioning so that the customer is easily convinced.

As we are experiencing a global concept these days, the market segmentation needs to divide the larger market into relatively homogenous segments. The targeting needs to visualize the customer, the positioning, and the needs to determine whether to take on the competitor head-to-head or to deviate through creating perceived differentiation strategies.

Taking the example of Flipkart/Amazon in this regard, we find the company targeting a wider demographic profile with middle class customers. It takes to differentiating targeting strategy. Flipkart having its own distribution structure in Ekart, it is able to cut losses. For example, mobile phones have become cheap and have penetrated into rural areas easily. It has expanded to almost all areas. It has made itself a great alternative for people who have no time and money to visit a physical store. Having its distribution structure present in nearly 40 cities, it is able to serve a huge customer base.