CHALLENGES
Which supply chain, transportation, and logistics challenges are the most critical for your customers?
Compliance 38% Labor 38%
79%
Cost reduction
Inventory management 38% Growth management 36% Demand management 34% Risk management 33% Sustainability, ESG initiatives 33% Capacity 31% Ecommerce/omnichannel enablement 28% Security 27% Global expansion 22% Vendor management 22%
72%
Visibility
54%
Transport optimization
50%
Data management
47%
AI enablement
40%
Customer service/CX
Of the supply chain, transportation, and logistics challenges that IT solutions providers’ clients face, reducing cost remains at the top of the list, though this year’s survey results reveal some shifting tides. For instance, though interest in cost reduction remains robust, with 79% of respondents citing it as a critical challenge for customers, that reflects a drop of seven percentage points from last year. Farther down the list are signs that other challenges are not viewed as prominently as they have been in the past. Customer service drops from 47% to 40%, compliance falls from 46% to 38%, inventory management falls from 50% to 38%, and risk
management falls from 39% to 33%. Also notably slipping in importance for shippers are sustainability and ESG initiatives, which garnered headlines in 2025 amid political headwinds. Technology vendors say only 33% of customers see them as a critical challenge—down from 41% last year. AI enablement, which was not measured in last year’s survey, debuted on the list as the fifth most frequently cited of the challenges critical to customers at 47%, another sign of artificial intelligence’s rapid rise and the widespread interest in adopting and applying it to logistics. It would not be a surprise to see that percentage grow markedly on next year’s survey.
April 2025 • Inbound Logistics 45
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