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SUPPLY CHAIN MOVES TO HELP RETAILERS SURVIVE
Social Commerce: CONNECTIONS AND CHALLENGES American shoppers will spend $104.6 billion on products from social media platforms in 2026, rising to $160 billion by 2030, Capital One Shopping estimates. Social commerce is particularly important for businesses like Black Barn Alpacas, where the story behind the product matters as much as the product itself. Social media allows shoppers to see the alpacas on the farm, learn about fiber, watch seasonal events, and discover new products. “That kind of connection can turn a retail transaction into a relationship,” says Yussy McManus, co-owner. At the same time, social commerce platforms bring challenges. To start, retailers typically don’t own the social media channels. This can blur their visibility to the customer and transaction. Social commerce compresses the distance between product discovery and purchase to nearly zero, placing pressure on fulfillment speed and flexibility. Retailers need to plan for demand that is even less predictable and driven by viral moments, rather than by season. Impulse buys prompted by influencer posts may produce higher return rates than purchases that are more considered. These also may be for lower-value items where the cost of processing the returns exceeds their value. Retailers need to develop a returns approach that accounts for these shifts. When purchasing is essentially instantaneous, customers often expect delivery to be equally fast. Inventory needs to be close to customers, whether through local or micro fulfillment centers, or stores that also are fulfillment hubs. This increases complexity and last-mile delivery costs. Social commerce also boosts demand for real-time visibility, faster replenishment, and more responsive logistics networks. Retailers who can quickly identify trends and react accordingly will enjoy a competitive advantage.
LiquiDonate helps retailers reroute unsellable and excess returns directly to local non-profits, which cuts reverse logistics costs while keeping functional goods out of landfills.
as well as social media trends, among data. By identifying patterns across these various sources, AI can better anticipate customer preferences. As Black Barn Alpacas is both a farm and a retail business, its supply chain is more personal and transparent than a traditional retail model. At the same time, customers expect convenience, availability, easy discovery, and a seamless experience. “Technology and data can help us better understand demand patterns, seasonal buying behavior, event-driven traffic, and which products resonate most with customers,” McManus says. Tools such as digital inventory tracking, ecommerce data, customer insights, and eventually more advanced demand planning can help small retailers make smarter decisions. 7 ENSURE DATA IS CLEAN Clean data, such as standardized stockkeeping units and inventory signals, is critical before implementing technology, and especially AI. “If the underlying data and systems are weak, the best you’ll get is poor decisions made quicker,” Holman says. Retailers that have diligently cleaned their data to prepare for AI show
significant strides in multiple areas, including product discovery, demand forecasting, inventory visibility, and labor productivity, Holman says. 8 LEVERAGE AI IN DEMAND PLANNING AI allows retailers to shift from reactive demand planning and inventory models that were built on historical data to predictive systems that can sense and respond to demand signals in near real time, Beitelspacher says. FTI is testing an AI solution to better determine how to manage replenishment cycles, says Rick Jordon, senior managing director with the company. Artificial intelligence can cut through the volumes of data to assess, for instance, when to let a truck go and when to hold it back to more completely fill it. It also can estimate how changing the truck’s schedule likely will impact the time to fill orders. 9 KEEP OTHER TECHNOLOGIES IN THE MIX While AI captures lots of attention, other technology solutions still hold value. For instance, RFID can speed
inventory counts by reducing the time associates spend searching for
34 Inbound Logistics • August 2026
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