TAKEAWAYS
RETAIL SOURCING: 4 TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2025
Supply chain diversification is accelerating as companies reduce reliance on single- source regions like China in favor of strategic nearshoring or reshoring destinations. Disruptions, delays, and rising costs have made de-risking through onshore or nearshore strategies a priority. 73% of companies reconfigured networks from 2022-2024, Gartner
Big changes are afoot in the retail sourcing segment. Today’s successful retail supply chains are shifting from a narrow focus on cost, eciency, speed, and other traditional metrics, to a broader focus on sustainability, resilience, collaboration, flexibility ( see chart below ), integration, and service. In addition, though understanding how to implement artificial intelligence and machine learning tools is an important focus, many retail supply chains still struggle with the same fundamental issues they have for years—such as manual processes, siloed and inaccurate data, and upgrading their mix of legacy systems. These major shifts are outlined in Trade Beyond’s new report, 2025 Retail Supply Chain Trends , which outlines four key trends impacting sourcing strategies across all consumer markets. TREND #1: FROM SINGLE SOURCE TO DIVERSIFICATION Flexibility Cushions Disruption: The frequency and severity of disruption in recent years due to conflicts, delays, material shortages, and higher transportation costs, has made built-in flexibility a requirement for evolving supply chains.
notes, and experts anticipate this trend will intensify in 2025. TREND #2: FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR SUPPLY CHAINS
With retail contributing 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, retailers feel more pressure to go circular. Circular supply chains aim to reduce waste by recycling, repairing, and reusing materials, creating multiple product lifecycles. Rising consumer demand and inflation drive companies to adopt this model, which boosts profitability and brand equity, and reduces environmental impact while also balancing sustainability and cost-eectiveness. TREND #3: FROM SUPPLY CHAIN AS A FUNCTION TO SUPPLY CHAIN AS A SERVICE The strategic importance of supply chains is driving growth in Supply Chain as a Service (SCaaS). Companies increasingly outsource logistics, manufacturing, and order management, while some monetize in-house supply chain expertise. Amazon’s supply chain services division is a textbook SCaaS case, notes the report. The retail giant provides fulfillment services for competing platforms that don’t oer in-house fulfillment, including Best Buy, Walmart, eBay, and Shopify in North America. Amazon also drives both supply chain service innovation and revenue through its cloud and other B2B services. TREND #4: FROM DATA SILOS TO DATA INTEGRATION Eliminating data silos in supply chains remains challenging due to outdated systems and limited communication between internal functions and partners. Fully integrated supply chains consolidate data across sales, finance, and operations. This enables improved forecasting, inventory management, and AI-driven analytics, and enhances collaboration and visibility for streamlined operations and decision-making.
80% 61% 70%
Organizations experienced at least one significant supply chain disruption
Participants said material shortages were a top challenge
Participants implemented measures to improve supply chain resilience
Source: Trade Beyond / Deloitte
SHAKING THE GLOBAL TRADE JITTERS
Concern over the impact of new tari and trade policies is top of mind for logistics and supply chain professionals as the Trump administration gets underway. In fact, respondents to Descartes Systems Group’s 2024 Supply Chain Intelligence Report: Escalating Challenges for Global Supply Chain Leaders cite rising taris and trade barriers as their largest concern. Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed say this is the biggest threat to supply chain stability in 2025. Supply chain disruptions rank second in the survey, with 45% of respondents citing it as their largest concern. Geopolitical instability is the third-largest threat, with 41% of respondents identifying it as a major issue ( see chart, right ). Interestingly, the taris and trade barriers concern was top-ranked regardless of company size, as respondents at companies with fewer than 250 employees, 251-500, 501-1,000, 1,001-50,000 and 50,000+ employees all cite it as the most significant issue they currently face. The level of concern did vary, however, with the success of the business: Companies anticipating more than 15% growth are more concerned about taris and trade barriers (51%) compared to those with flat or negative growth (43%). “Evolving taris and trade policies are one of a number of complex issues requiring
organizations to build more resilience into their supply chains through compliance, technology and strategic planning,” says Jackson Wood, director, industry strategy at Descartes. “With the potential for the new administration to impose new and additional taris on a wide variety of goods and countries of origin, U.S. importers may need to significantly re-engineer their sourcing strategies to mitigate potentially higher costs,” he recommends.
Top Challenges in International Trade Operations Taris & Trade Barriers 48% Supply Chain Disruptions 45% Geopolitical Instability 41% ESG Compliance 40% Customs Compliance 39%
Customs Clearance Delays 31% Forced Labor Compliance 19% Other 1% None of the Above 3%
Source: Descartes/ SAPIO
40 Inbound Logistics • January 2025
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