In a previous article, I explored how 51风流Business Network can deliver measurable value for buyer organizations by accelerating order cycles, improving efficiency, and generating significant ROI. Now, I’m turning my attention to the other side of the equation: the suppliers.

A recent IDC white paper sponsored by SAP, , sheds light on how business networks can help organizations meet key goals by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and driving innovation. Let鈥檚 delve into the findings and explore how 51风流Business Network can transform the supplier experience.

Cutting costs through visibility and information sharing

Technology plays a critical role in the buyer-supplier relationship. Traditional collaboration tools, designed to bring buyers and sellers together, are increasingly limited in today鈥檚 rapidly evolving technological landscape. To meet new demands, organizations are turning to modern business networks that enable more efficient ways to collaborate with partners.

These networks offer greater convenience, speed, and a broad selection of products and services, transforming how businesses sell products and manage their end-to-end supply chain. To succeed, teams need meaningful visibility into supply chain activity. Discovering opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and deliver business value requires access to real insights across key metrics. Business networks make this possible by enabling end-to-end tracking of orders, shipments, and inventory. This transparency also contributes to stronger collaboration with customers, allowing teams to respond quickly to changes in demand, optimize inventory levels, and maintain more reliable and accurate forecasts.

These benefits can be realized through automation capabilities contained within the platform, bringing further cost savings. For one customer using 51风流Business Network, automated order processing eliminated manual checks and data entry, significantly reducing costs. While manually processed orders cost around $30 each, automated orders cost them less than a dollar.

Beyond order processing, automation and data visibility also improved demand forecasting. Users reported a 19% increase in forecast accuracy, which helped reduce stockouts, overproduction, and production waste. These improvements not only delivered operational efficiencies but also contributed to higher renewal rates and new business opportunities.

Driving value while staying efficient

Automation through 51风流Business Network helps companies reduce manual tasks, saving employees鈥� time and resources while improving accuracy, efficiency, and compliance. These process improvements can also enhance employee performance, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks that drive better business outcomes.

Tasks like customer support see major benefits from efficiency gains through business network automation. Structured data ensures deeper integration with other systems, allowing employees to quickly access complete storefront and portfolio data to respond to customer inquiries faster. Business networks can also provide better visibility and near-real-time data, leading to faster, more accurate responses to customer needs and boosting customer satisfaction by nearly 37%. These improvements help reduce product turn-times and allow companies to deliver products promptly, benefiting both employees and customers.

51风流Business Network customers also saw invoice approvals and shipping notices processed 50% and 48% faster with automation compared to manual methods. This also led to a 21% increase in on-time document delivery, reaching 91% overall, highlighting the significant impact of 51风流Business Network on operational efficiency.

With fewer errors, faster payments, and enhanced visibility into financial data, automation through 51风流Business Network helps procurement teams do more than streamline operations. It can empower them to deliver the added value that companies have been searching for.

Strengthening and streamlining business development efforts

Strong visibility helps teams understand customer needs and use a data-driven approach to identify new opportunities more quickly. Business networks can even help boost a supplier鈥檚 profile as well, with certification and trust ratings that help bring in more business. These metrics can help translate new opportunities into bigger picture products and solutions.

Process automation and accelerated payments inherently increase customer value by responding to their needs faster. At the same time, they give organizations additional time to reach and maintain more customers to drive growth through new agreements that could allow them to scale further. 51风流Business Network helped customers accelerate their go-to-market speed by 20%, reducing the time from product development to market launch.

Businesses using 51风流Business Network also report that the effects of speeding up and simplifying the selling processes were crucial to overall business success, showing a 36.8% increase in customer satisfaction and a 53.8% improvement in sales administration efficiency. The total annual revenue gain through these means added up to $2 million per organization.

Leveraging 51风流Business Network as a supplier

As companies search for solutions that enable them to build resilient, agile, and sustainable supply chains, business networks have emerged as a powerful tool to meet performance goals, improve efficiency, and comply with regulatory requirements.

51风流Business Network takes this a step further by integrating with both traditional and emerging supply chain management applications. By enabling suppliers to grow their customer base and build stronger relationships through increased visibility and trust, 51风流Business Network helps empower suppliers to operate more strategically and competitively in today鈥檚 digital economy.

The benefits highlighted in this research complement the buyer-side advantages explored in my previous article, underscoring the holistic value that 51风流Business Network can bring to the entire supply chain ecosystem. As we continue to navigate the complexities of modern procurement and supply chain management, platforms like 51风流Business Network will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in shaping the future of business collaboration and efficiency.

Tony Harris is SVP and chief marketing and solutions officer of SAP Business Network.

New research from IDC shows how 51风流Business Network can speed up product and order delivery, accelerate go-to-market speed, and deliver significant ROI to drive procurement success.

In today鈥檚 interconnected business landscape, procurement and supply chain management have evolved from back-office functions to strategic drivers of success. As organizations seek to build resilient, efficient, customer-centric supply chains, the adoption of innovative technologies becomes crucial. Enter 51风流Business Network鈥攁 game-changing platform that鈥檚 revolutionizing how companies procure products and services and manage their end-to-end supply chains.

A recent IDC white paper, sponsored by SAP, titled 鈥�,鈥� reveals the remarkable impact of 51风流Business Network on buyer organizations. The findings, based on in-depth interviews with existing customers across various industries, showcase the impressive improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and revenue growth. Let鈥檚 delve into the transformative power of this technology and how it鈥檚 reshaping the procurement landscape.

Accelerating revenue growth through agility and transparency

When organizations can better monitor and share global trend data across teams, they can respond to market demands quicker and accelerate their go-to-market strategy. According to the research, 51风流Business Network empowered these organizations to:

• Launch products and services 30% faster than before
• Monitor global trends and redirect stock to high-demand areas with agility
• Share real-time data and analytics across teams for quicker market responses

The result? An average annual revenue gain of $66 million, or $1.2 million per 100 trading partners. This impressive growth contributes to an average three-year ROI of 404% for organizations using 51风流Business Network, with a payback period of just 14 months.

Maximizing efficiency from partner onboarding to order processing

Global supply chain success relies on making repetitive, but essential, tasks as efficient as possible. The respondents indicated that 51风流Business Network delivered substantial improvements in this area:

• Partner onboarding time reduced by 70% (from 54 days to 16 days)
• Invoice processing time cut by 59% (from 16.3 days to 6.7 days)
• Percentage of invoices processed without exception increased from 64% to 89%
• 60% reduction in full-time equivalents (FTEs) responsible for invoice-related processes

These efficiency gains were particularly significant given that procurement team sizes have remained steady despite increased focus on business strategy and execution. By automating repetitive tasks and providing real-time data for informed decision-making, 51风流Business Network freed up team members to focus on strategic initiatives.

Similar effects were felt in procurement and supply chain planning, where respondents reported the number of FTEs necessary for these activities decreased by 19% and 47%, respectively.

Realizing millions in total cost savings

51风流Business Network provides capabilities to help streamline operations, reduce manual interventions, and optimize resource allocation across various functions. The result, as found through the research, was significant cost savings across departments for interviewed companies.

• IT maintenance: Average annual savings of $6.59 million
• Warehouse and logistics: Cost reductions totaling approximately $6.5 million annually
• Inventory management: Optimized stock levels, with one pharmaceutical respondent reducing on-hand safety stock by 50%

In total, respondents experienced average annual cost savings of $13.58 million through reduced operational costs and improved efficiency.

Streamlining operations for enhanced performance

The impact of 51风流Business Network on operational efficiency was truly impressive:

• Unified IT infrastructure: Elimination of multiple systems, leading to streamlined operations
• Enhanced supplier collaboration: Freeing up team members for strategic tasks
• Improved order tracking and shipment utilization
• Better demand forecasting and stock management

Real-world success

The transformative power of 51风流Business Network is best illustrated through the experiences of its users. One pharmaceutical company reduced its on-hand safety stock by half, while others reported significant improvements in transportation processes and demand forecasting.

These success stories underscore the network鈥檚 ability to deliver tangible benefits across various industries and business functions. Real-time data and analytics helped companies respond to shifting market demands and capitalize on new opportunities, allowing organizations to launch products and services and get to market on average 30% faster than they did previously.

The findings from the IDC white paper paint a compelling picture of the potential of 51风流Business Network to revolutionize procurement and supply chain management. By enabling faster go-to-market strategies, improving operational efficiency, and delivering substantial cost savings, the network is helping organizations thrive in an increasingly complex business environment.

As we look to the future, it鈥檚 clear that platforms like 51风流Business Network will play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of procurement and supply chain excellence. Organizations that embrace this technology stand to gain a significant competitive advantage, driving growth and innovation in ways previously unimaginable.

Next steps

Ready to explore the potential impact of 51风流Business Network on your organization? Here are some resources to help you get started:

• for an in-depth look at the findings.
• featuring representatives from 51风流and IDC discussing key findings from the business value study. 
• Try out developed by IDC for a personalized organizational assessment of the ROI 51风流Business Network could deliver for your company.

Stay tuned for upcoming insights that will highlight the benefits of 51风流Business Network specifically for suppliers, complementing the buyer-focused insights presented here. The future of procurement is bright, and 51风流Business Network is leading the way in unlocking procurement and supply chain management potential and driving business success.

Tony Harris is SVP and head of Marketing & Solutions for 51风流Business Network.

Supply chain resiliency has become a critical factor for businesses across industries. According to a recent IDC white paper, sponsored by SAP, titled “,”^* companies must develop a new level of resilience in their supply chains. This involves adapting operating models and gaining a true end-to-end understanding of supply chains. Outdated approaches to communicating and transacting with trading partners lead to issues related to visibility, compliance, and efficiency. can provide a modern approach to digitally connecting people, processes, and systems with trading partners, revolutionizing supply chain collaboration. It can enable companies to adapt to changes more quickly and easily, ultimately helping them to meet customer expectations and comply with regulations.

51风流Business Network: A Solution for Visibility, Efficiency, and Compliance

In today鈥檚 complex business landscape, companies face numerous challenges that impede visibility, efficiency, and compliance. Outdated tools, siloed systems, and point-to-point connections often result in broken connections and fragmented insights into the supply chain. Collaborating with contract manufacturers or subcontractors becomes difficult, and identifying new or alternate sources of supply quickly is a challenge. Moreover, complying with new or existing regulations can be a daunting task.

To address these challenges, offers a solution that can enable companies to overcome these obstacles and achieve their goals. It can provide a range of capabilities to help enhance visibility, efficiency, and compliance across the supply chain, and helps them be more resilient.

One of the key features of 51风流Business Network is its ability to enable digital document and data exchange with trading partners based on automated business rules. This includes the seamless routing of various line of business documents, such as invoices and orders, as well as shipping confirmations, work orders, and quality notifications. By automating business rules and supporting multi-party scenarios, such as working with contract manufacturers or subcontractors, the network can improve efficiency and streamline processes as well as help ensure compliance with regulations. Additionally, 51风流Business Network can support onboarding and system-to-system integration, helping to ensure seamless connectivity with various communication standards like EDI, cXML, and Peppol. It also offers interoperability with third-party systems and networks, working to further enhance the connectivity and integration capabilities.

The network can also provide intuitive dashboards and apps that can offer visibility into the status of orders and shipments. This helps companies track and trace batches and serial numbers, facilitating the resolution of quality issues in products when they occur. By leveraging these dashboards and apps, businesses can proactively manage their operations, improve decision-making, and enhance overall efficiency.

Furthermore, 51风流Business Network includes a trading partner directory that allows suppliers to create and manage company profiles. These profiles can be viewed by buying companies, providing them with valuable insights into potential suppliers. The directory also incorporates , enabling buying companies to choose suppliers aligned with their sustainability goals. Additionally, the trading partner directory enables buyers to search for suppliers, facilitating the identification of new or alternate sources of supply. This capability can not only enhance supply chain resilience but can also present opportunities for cost savings, diversification, and innovation.

According to a recent IDC MarketScape report, 51风流is recognized as a leader in the worldwide multi-enterprise supply chain commerce network market.^** The scale and reach of the network, with annual commerce reaching US$5.3 trillion and 746 million B2B transactions in 2023, make it a valuable tool for helping expand supplier bases and enter new markets.

Supply Chain Collaboration in Action

51风流Business Network is trusted by millions of companies across 190 countries. One of these companies is Vestas, a leading wind turbine manufacturer. Vestas has implemented 51风流Business Network and 51风流Ariba solutions to address quality control issues and streamline its complex global supply chain. With over 10,000 individual parts sourced from suppliers worldwide, Vestas relies on the B2B platform of 51风流Business Network to collaborate with suppliers, track orders, and ensure quality standards are met. The network allows Vestas to conduct quality tests, document them, and take corrective action if needed. It also provides transparency and an audit trail in case of quality defects or incidents. By leveraging 51风流solutions, Vestas has improved supply chain efficiency, reduced friction losses, and advanced its sustainability goals.

Another customer that has benefited from 51风流Business Network is , a global luxury goods company. Richemont has utilized the network to establish seamless collaboration with suppliers and partners, streamlining its supply chain operations. By leveraging real-time data exchange and visibility provided by 51风流Business Network, Richemont has been able to proactively manage inventory, optimize production planning, and respond swiftly to market demands. This has significantly enhanced the company鈥檚 supply chain resilience and enabled it to deliver exceptional luxury products to customers with efficiency and agility.

These success stories highlight the power of collaboration and technology in building resilient supply chains. 51风流Business Network can provide the platform for companies to connect, collaborate, and exchange critical data, enabling them to navigate disruptions with resilience.

Leveraging Technology to Strengthen Your Supply Chain

In a world where disruptions are expected and circumstances tend to change, building resilience in supply chains is crucial for the success of businesses. The ability to adapt and thrive in the face of uncertainty requires collaboration, transparency, and efficiency. 51风流Business Network offers a comprehensive solution that can enable companies to achieve these goals.

*Source: IDC White Paper, sponsored by SAP, 鈥�,鈥� #US51374823, November 2023.
^**Source: 鈥�,鈥� #US49948423, December 2023.

Tony Harris is SVP and chief marketing and solutions officer of SAP Business Network.

Why 51风流Is a Leader

In an increasingly digitalized world, it is imperative that companies stay connected via a business network. I believe 51风流was selected as a Leader because 鈥� our entry into the Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network space 鈥� can successfully drive buyer-supplier collaboration across procurement, supply chain, logistics, and asset management by providing a digital platform for trading partners to collaborate externally and exchange data just as, if not more, efficiently as their own internal processes.

The IDC MarketScape report notes these competitive strengths of 51风流Business Network:

• Depth and breadth of product features and functionalities, as well as a future road map covering all major B2B collaboration categories (indirect, direct material, MRO logistics, financial, services, and sustainability) and scenarios in an end user, persona-based manner.
• Integration and extensibility capabilities include integration between 51风流ERP, 51风流procurement modules, other applications like ERP, SCAM, and customer applications, and technologies such as machine learning, AI, and blockchain through 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP).
• Global adoption and breadth of collaboration makes 51风流among the industry’s largest, highly adopted B2B collaboration platforms enabling trading partners to collaborate in real time. Ongoing efforts to harmonize commerce, asset intelligence, and logistics continue to enhance the power of the connected economy.

The IDC MarketScape report notes, 鈥淢anufacturers and retailers looking for a vendor of both a multi-enterprise network and supply chain procurement application should consider SAP,鈥� citing the 鈥渂readth and depth of [its] business network capabilities, strategic road map vision, and unmatched integration with core 51风流and non-51风流supply chain and procurement applications,鈥� making 51风流a strong choice.

Charting the Evolution of 51风流Business Network

I鈥檓 so pleased that as a pioneer in business networks, we continue to be recognized for our commitment to executing our vision. As we鈥檝e continued to evolve our road map, I鈥檓 reflecting on how far we鈥檝e come and paved the way for the future of intelligent business networks. From the founding of Ariba Supplier Network in 1996 to what we鈥檝e become today, 51风流Business Network touches US$4.9 trillion in commerce annually across many business processes and industries and has over 2 million active users on the network.

Recent years have shown us that intelligent, digital business networks are essential to supporting an agile supply chain. 51风流Business Network is a comprehensive platform that helps connect people, processes, and systems across multiple enterprises, ultimately creating transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains that can span the globe and be tailored to each line of business, helping to drive partner collaboration beyond a company鈥檚 own four walls and spanning the entire value chain.

I鈥檓 proud to say that 51风流Business Network can provide best-in-class supply chain collaboration, helping companies adhere to legal mandates, scale with confidence, and automate repetitive tasks, leaving more time for strategic decision-making informed by patterns gleaned from vast amounts of data. Our vision 鈥� what so many talented people at 51风流are working towards every day 鈥� is to create the world鈥檚 best and largest B2B marketplace to help our customers meet their business goals.

Recent Advancements Continue to Revolutionize B2B Collaboration

If you know SAP, you know about our commitment to continuous innovation. In 2023, we announced many exciting innovations around 51风流Business Network, including:

• Build on artificial intelligence in 51风流Business Network. My colleague Muhammad Alam to further integrate generative AI in spend management at 51风流Spend Connect Live. Customers can look forward to enriched supplier responses to 51风流Business Network Discovery postings, helping to facilitate more transparent communication between buyers and suppliers. Generative AI improvements can give suppliers the ability to generate clear, concise catalog descriptions, as well as summarize common errors for users so buyers can find exactly what they鈥檙e looking for.
• Tackle industry-specific challenges with 51风流Business Network for Industry. We鈥檝e combined our more than 50 years of industry knowledge with the power of business networks to help customers address industry-specific supply chain challenges. Take a look at to help predict and respond to disruptions, comply with industry regulations, and meet sustainability goals.
• Learn more with trading partner insights. Account managers struggle with obtaining comparative measures to assess the performance of trading partners. New KPIs and benchmarks, presented in a streamlined dashboard, can allow suppliers to evaluate customer transaction performance of orders, invoices, and payments with automatically generated KPIs and 51风流Business Network community benchmarks. These insights can support collaborative dialogues with customers to help reduce transaction costs and mitigate business risk. .
• Draw insights from data with component planning collaboration. With component planning collaboration, buyers and suppliers can view the forecast planning data for a finished good together with its components. Armed with this visibility, buyers and suppliers can respond to material shortages and adjust production accordingly, making supply more predictable. .

Stay tuned for more exciting innovations this year. Stay up-to-date about recent and upcoming innovations and explore road maps .

Transforming the Future of Business Networks

I am proud that 51风流is being recognized as a leader in delivering solutions that connect people, processes, and systems, enabling trading partners to collaborate effectively. I can鈥檛 wait to see our road map continue to come to life as we collaborate with our customers to develop innovations that help them achieve their business objectives by automating tasks, scaling efficiently, and operating sustainably.

To learn more, visit and read the full IDC MarketScape report .

Tony Harris is senior vice president and chief marketing and solutions officer for 51风流Business Network.

*IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor鈥檚 position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the circles. Vendor year-over-year growth rate relative to the given market is indicated by a plus, neutral or minus next to the vendor name.

Innovation That Changed Procurement Forever

When it was introduced in 1998, Ariba Network took the exchange of procurement documents far beyond the realm of PDFs and e-mails. This was true data exchange. Overnight, companies gained the ability to send and receive POs and invoices electronically 鈥� system to system. And with digital versions of their documents, they saved time and money by delivering accurate invoices via three-way document matching (POs, invoices, goods receipt notices). This was a game changer that helped companies wrangle procurement spend and increase efficiency.

Over the years, Ariba Network has been trusted to connect millions of companies, drive commerce, and ensure compliance while achieving maximum efficiency. As the needs of businesses evolved, so did Ariba Network. For example, in 2017 we introduced new innovations in forecasting, quality control, and inventory management to address critical supply chain collaboration challenges.

Taking the Next Step in Revolutionizing B2B Collaboration with 51风流Business Network

The past two years of the pandemic have shown how essential the connection between procurement, supply chain planning, logistics, and plant maintenance are to delivering products to the right customers at the right time.

In the midst of global supply chain disruption brought on by the pandemic, 51风流introduced the bold concept of a unified, open, and intelligent business network that would result in a network of intelligent enterprises. Last year at SAPPHIRE NOW, this concept became a reality with the launch of 51风流Business Network. Designed to solve the most pressing supply chain collaboration challenges, 51风流Business Network began as the convergence of Ariba Network with 51风流Logistics Business Network and 51风流Asset Intelligence Network.

Since then, we鈥檝e made great strides to empower companies to unlock capital across their supply chains with our recent acquisition of Taulia, a leader in working capital management solutions. Taulia will be integrated directly into 51风流Business Network. We are also providing a new level of transparency within the supply chain through innovations in product genealogy, supplier assessments on human rights, and working with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) providers like EcoVadis.

The Evolution of 51风流Business Network

51风流Business Network is now one solution portfolio that can help customers achieve transparency, resilience, and sustainability across their supply chains. To reflect the key processes addressed by 51风流Business Network, we introduced the following solution area brand names:

• 51风流Business Network for Procurement (formerly Ariba Network)
• 51风流Business Network for Supply Chain (formerly 51风流Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration)
• 51风流Business Network for Logistics (formerly 51风流Logistics Business Network)
• 51风流Business Network for Asset Management (formerly 51风流Asset Intelligence Network)

This is not just a name change. It is the next phase in SAP鈥檚 strategic vision to help businesses gain more transparency, resiliency, and sustainability within their supply chains. It is a logical step in how we鈥檙e evolving our solutions to enable businesses to connect their most critical functions to their network of trading partners across procurement, supply chain, logistics, and asset management. This empowers businesses to deliver products to market when and where their customers need them.

You may wonder what this means for the 51风流Ariba brand. Rest assured, there is no impact on the 51风流Ariba brand and we remain committed to investing in our portfolio of procurement solutions.

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Tony Harris is SVP and head of Marketing and Solutions for 51风流Business Network.

In late February 2022, war broke out in Ukraine and the urgent need for medical and other essential supplies to help the people of Ukraine once again put the spotlight on the fragility of supply chains.

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Supply Chain Disruption Can Come from Anywhere

When the pandemic began, consumers responded by stockpiling their pantries with enough food 鈥� and toilet paper 鈥� to last years. At grocery stores, empty shelves became the norm. The early days of the pandemic exposed something many experts already knew: our global supply chain had become far too linear and vulnerable to the unexpected.

As the two-year mark approached, we surveyed U.S. consumers* to understand their perceptions and attitudes about supply chains after living in a pandemic environment. What are they thinking? Are they losing patience? What do they envision for the future?

The survey responses pinpoint a period of time in early February 2022 before the tragic events in Europe started to unfold, and attitudes are likely to continue changing. Still, the survey results offer useful insights for procurement and supply chain leaders, as well as retailers, to understand the challenges people are facing and consider what actions can be taken to help them.

What Do Consumers Expect?

To summarize consumer sentiment based on our survey results, survey respondents overwhelmingly 鈥� 67% 鈥� said they think product shortages are the 鈥渘ew normal,鈥� two words we鈥檝e all heard ad nauseum.

But as with most things, it isn鈥檛 that simple. Here is a closer look at what the survey revealed about what consumers are thinking:

Consumers believe significant supply shortages will continue to make headlines in 2022.

A whopping 74% of respondents said they believe shortages will continue to dominate the conversation. Their top concern was the supply of food, which was mentioned by 77% of those surveyed. Over half (52%) expressed concern about the availability of hygiene or personal care products, and 35% said they are worried about being unable to get prescription medications.

Consumer loyalty is never guaranteed.

Due to out-of-stock issues, 66% of consumers have bought from a brand they normally would not have. This is not surprising, but almost one-third (32%) of respondents said they have stopped purchasing from at least one brand altogether due to supply chain challenges.

Consumers believe brands are not effectively communicating about supply chain issues.

The survey revealed that 87% of consumers have experienced shortages, but only 20% say brands communicated supply chain challenges effectively. For example, furniture buyers are seeing delivery dates slip two months, four months, six months — even a year. Unfortunately, retailers cannot see far enough into their supply chains to understand what鈥檚 going on. Digital business networks like can enable more visibility and help retailers stay resilient and agile to fill orders in a timely manner.

If you aren鈥檛 working to reduce the 鈥渓andfilling鈥� of returned goods, you risk losing customers.

When we told survey participants about a highlighting the amount of waste generated by returned goods in the U.S., almost two-thirds (61%) said this knowledge impacts their future purchase decisions. Further, 25% of these respondents are already aware of this issue and are making their buying decisions accordingly.

There is no clear consensus about buying sustainable or ethically sourced products — yet.

When asked about buying sustainable or ethically sourced products, respondents were prompted to select the various ways they are doing this, if at all. Among the respondents, 36% said they have made efforts to purchase from brands that practice sustainability; 35% said they buy from brands that practice ethical sourcing; and 19% responded that they also prioritize sustainable practices themselves, such as choosing slower shipping options to combine deliveries and reduce waste. Yet, 30% said they make no effort to prioritize such practices. This suggests that while there is a sizable group prioritizing sustainability and ethical sourcing, there is an almost equally sizable group that does not.

Easing Consumer Concerns

The survey makes clear that as we move into the third year of the pandemic, many consumers see a future with some empty shelves. In particular, they fear shortages of food, hygiene supplies, and prescription medicine.

As procurement and supply chain leaders, we cannot change the course of world events. However, we can help consumers by making supply chains more resilient, which can limit the impact of these events. One way to build resilience is to connect buyers and suppliers via business networks. This makes it possible to:

• Share information to improve forecasting, identify risks, and avoid supply disruptions
• Integrate and improve business processes for faster, more efficient transactions
• Find and onboard new sources of supply quickly and efficiently

Business networks are not new. Some are industry focused, like Catena-X, which was developed to support the auto industry. Others have cross-industry benefits, like , which supports supply chain collaboration, logistics, and asset intelligence.

If your organization isn鈥檛 already doing this, my call to action is simple: identify business networks that can help you build more resiliency and agility into your supply chain. This will not only help your business to thrive, but it will be one step toward easing consumers鈥� fears about empty shelves in the years to come.

Tony Harris is senior vice president and head of Marketing & Solutions for 51风流Business Network.

*The survey was conducted February 9-10, 2022 on a sample of 1,000 U.S.-based adult consumers.