Watch Now


GSCW chat: Retailers prioritize resiliency

Companies begin to leverage their supply chains for more control

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How are retailers responding to supply chain disruptions?

DETAILS: In this fireside chat, FreightWaves reporter Grace Sharkey and Jonathan Gold, the National Retail Federation’s vice president of supply chain and customs policy, discuss how increasing e-commerce sales and capacity crunches are changing retailers’ logistics strategies. Gold dives into how port congestion, automation and acquisitions have changed how retailers design their supply chains.

SPEAKER: Gold is vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation (NRF). Gold joined the NRF in October 2007 and is responsible for representing the organization before Congress and the administration on supply chain and customs issues impacting the retail industry. 

KEY QUOTES FROM GOLD:


“For years, we have talked about the lack of available data to help with port operations. Ports are basically a black box when it comes to available information. … So we should be creating something like a national freight portal that all supply chain stakeholders can feed their information to and get a better understanding and visibility to allow them to do better freight planning and better resilience efforts.”

“Retailers are really taking a look at their supply chains and making sure they have a risk mitigation strategy in place to adjust for anything that comes down the pike. Are there opportunities to shift sourcing nearshore or on shore or somewhere else? They are also looking at their port strategy and not solely relying on the west coast.”

“We went through a period where retailers brought logistics in-house, and then we went to where everyone outsourced it and now we are seeing everyone bringing it back in again. It really depends on where they see their strengths and weaknesses. … A lot of retailers are going to be looking at their supply chains and see where they can have more leverage and control.”

You may also like:

Industrial Internet of Things is remaking the retail supply chain


Is 2022 the year of the retail reset? Deloitte thinks so

Shifting behaviors: Hybrid shopping, purpose-driven consumers change retail’s outlook

Grace Sharkey

Grace Sharkey is a professional in the logistics and transportation industry with experience in journalism, digital content creation and decision-making roles in the third-party logistics space. Prior to joining FreightWaves, Grace led a startup brokerage to more than $80 million in revenue, holding roles of increasing responsibility, including director of sales, vice president of business development and chief strategy officer. She is currently a staff writer, podcast producer and SiriusXM radio host for FreightWaves, a leading provider of news, data and analytics for the logistics industry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Michigan State University. You can contact her at [email protected].