Why is Supply Chain Flexibility Important in the Eyewear Industry?

Imagine you are holding a chain that has multiple ends. Suddenly you feel the chain being pulled at from multiple directions. The pressure continues to build from all sides, but you are unable to move with them to relieve the tension as you are fixed in one position. In such a situation, the chain will eventually break. 

The chain is your supply chain. You are the supplier, and the multiple ends represent the different types of customers you cater to and other factors that affect the supply chain, such as inventory management, lead time, etc. Each customer has different needs, especially when it comes to eyewear, as it is a very personal item. To make sure they are all met, without it breaking your bank or resulting in an inventory backlog worth thousands of dollars, you will have to create a flexible operational mechanism.

Here we discuss the importance of supply chain flexibility in the eyewear industry.

Will Help You Combat Market Volatility

The ideal supply chain will be demand-driven and agile. Agility and adaptability are essential, as is the need to keep it customer-centric. What your customers want today, they may not want next week. Imagine you order 15k pieces of the latest eyewear range from Police, only to find out the buzz for the collection dies down within a few days, and you have more than 50% of the inventory still left, leading to substantial losses for the company in the long and short run. 

But with a flexible supply chain that lets you cater to the customer’s demands as they arise without running the risk of overstocking on products, you can combat market volatility in the most efficient and profitable way possible.

Helps You Cater to Complex Consumer Demand

Consumer consumption patterns are becoming harder and harder to predict. Every day there is a new trend and a new buzz surrounding a new product. You can no longer rely on old-school consumer demand prediction techniques and patterns. You may be thinking that choosing a set target audience can help you determine what each segment of your target audience is looking for. 

However, that is not completely true as each customer is an individual with their own unique set of requirements. Customers now prefer being treated as individuals. They want to know what the company has to offer to each of them and not to everyone in general, further complicating the demand prediction process.

Thus, you need to create a flexible supply chain system that will ensure you are able to cater to the ever-changing consumer demand. 

Keep the Company Afloat During the Good Times and the Bad

A flexible supply chain is built through meaningful partnerships. When your supply and retail mechanism work hand in hand as one, and as needed, you can survive even the most difficult periods of economic downturn.

Having a flexible supply chain mechanism requires that you be proactive rather than reactive. Being proactive means you have a strategy for when and if things take a turn for the worst. Eredità Eyewear Group can help you create an incredibly flexible supply chain mechanism that caters to the customers’ requirements and ensures profitability for its partners.