Canadian Retailer - The Supply Chain & Logistics Issue - 23

is the strength of APIs-access is controlled. APIs act like a system of gates.
To get through the gate, users must
obtain permission from the retailer. Retailers can impose controls on who gets
permission and how much data a user
can access. For example, APIs can impose limits on how many requests for
data an API makes per day, or limit the
number of items a user can access.
8 APIs move the supply chain to
the foreground of the customer
experience

The advent of e-commerce transformed
retail in more than one way. It gave customers a new way to shop and moved
the back-end of the retail business into
the middle of the retail mix.
	 With traditional, face-to-face retailing, the customer service rep serves
the customer. They are the face of the
retailer. With e-commerce, more than
50 per cent of the customer experience
relies on logistics-labelling, packaging,
warehousing, deliveries, returns. Now
logistics is more the face of the retailer.
	 "Logistics has always been the enabler of the order," says Goodhue, "but
e-commerce transformed it into a part
of the customer experience."
	 APIs enable a more complete approach to customer service by allowing
the supply chain to access customer
and sales and marketing data. Data
moves across the business in real-time
where and when it's needed so the customer receives the optimal experience.
9 APIs will transform the store but
require massive investments

According to Wael Safwat, Head of Procurement Transformation at Loblaw,
retailers with antiquated, siloed retail
systems will have to make a massive
investment to tap the potential of APIs.
More than ever, retail is becoming a
technology business. "It's the industrial revolution 4.0," he says.
	 The ideal retail system will have
end-to-end integration with the endgoal of improving the customer experience. Data sharing will be central
to this integration, and so will APIs.
Considering how integral logistics is
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to the business, the supply chain will need access
to all customer contact points so that customer service-including ordering, shipping, stocking-can
begin long before the customer enters the store.
	 The return on investment is long-term, Safwat says.
Large players are doing it first and these new ways of
doing business will trickle through the entire industry
as retailers compete to deliver the right products and
experiences to customers faster and cheaper.
	 "Massive innovation. It's coming," says Safwat.

"APIs ARE A MEANS OF SHARING
INFORMATION. MORE DEMOCRATIC
SHARING OF INFORMATION LEADS
TO MORE FLUID MANAGEMENT."
- ALBERT GOODHUE
GCL Group

10 APIs only work for retailers willing to embrace

the challenge and change

Transforming the organization to use APIs will require many retailers to change how they structure
their business and the business systems-especially
retailers that, as Goestch calls them, "are stuck in the
'80s," and still use batch processing or work with an
uncoordinated set of platforms.
	 APIs, he explains, are old hat. "IT has been doing
this forever," he says.
	 The good news? "APIs can inspire revolutions in
how retailers organize themselves," says Goestch.
	 He suggests that retailers should look at how they
structure the technical aspects of the business. Traditionally, retailers have a range of technical duties
siloed under a CIO. In a way, functions are "piled
up," or aligned horizontally. This could make change
impossible unless the CIO is willing to blow up the
organizational structure.
	 "If you're CIO, how do you go to your VPs and say,
we're going vertical? That's a big change that puts
the VP's job on the line."
	 Changing the structure of the organization may
require retailers to incentivize leadership to change.
	 Goodhue says that retailers who are embracing
change in the marketplace-including revamping
their back-end technologies-are the ones setting
themselves up to compete.
	 "For me, growth and progress come by embracing
the change, making sense of data," he says.
	 Whether talking about front-end fireworks or supply chain logistics, no matter how advanced retail
technology becomes, it all has the same goal: To improve the customer experience. This is exactly what
an API can do when retailers use them smartly.

THE SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS ISSUE

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