Cost to serve comment and opinion

The UK government’s Plastic Tax will target manufacturers who use less than 30% recycled plastic in their plastic packaging from April 2022. The tax is anticipated to impact 20,000 manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging. About the Plastic Tax The Plastic Tax will be a new tax that applies to plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most significant shocks that global supply chains have ever faced. It has had a profound impact on the food and consumer goods industry with changes to how people shop set to impact end-to-end supply chains for a long time to come. In this blog, I look at the impact of COVID-19 on two key aspects of supply chain performance: end-to-end ...

IGD recently ran a virtual roundtable event, in which supply chain professionals gathered to share and discuss their understanding of supply chain cost, and how to extract more value. The event coincides with the publishing of our latest benchmarking report  focused on end-to-end supply chain costs. The event comprised of several discussion topics: How good is the industry’s grasp ...

Logistics is evolving fast, with new technologies supporting the emergence of solutions that are disrupting the status quo. In many markets, a small number of large players dominate, holding a large portion of the overall pie, with the size of operators’ fleets and a track-record on delivering (literally) helping them secure and maintain their advantage and win long-term contracts. But with ...

Automation in European grocery logistics is no longer an added extra; we believe that there is a more urgent need to invest, and we wanted to look more closely. I recently wrote a report with my colleague James Walton, IGD’s Chief Economist, and he reviewed some of the economic factors that are pushing businesses in this direction. It is clear that shoppers across Europe are in a good p...

Same-day delivery is one of the biggest challenges facing retailers and manufacturers in today’s food and grocery market. It challenges the very model that has allowed modern trade to thrive in regions around the world. Is it a challenge that can be overcome? And does it really need to be? Who or what is driving the agenda? What’s motivating food and grocery businesses to develop a sa...

The trend for online retailers to establish a “real world” store network continues to gather pace in 2018. Alistair Balderson, IGD's Head of Supply Chain Insight, looks at some recent developments.   Last week the two major Chinese online retailers were in the news. Alibaba announced the expansion of their Hema supermarket chain with 30 new stores to be opened in Beijing during 2018. And JD...