Everything They Taught Us in Import School Was Wrong...

How Brands and Retailers Are Approaching Their 2026 Strategies and the Role of Digital Transformation

By most measures, 2025 has been the most challenging year for importers since Covid. Inventory volatility, geopolitical instability, and rising operating costs have pushed many global supply chains to a breaking point. It’s time for a reset.

Most import networks were not designed to drive sales—they were optimized to minimize costs. That's a problem. To quote Tim Cook, CEO of Apple:

“Inventory is fundamentally evil. You kind of want to manage it like you're in the dairy business: You've got to sell it before it spoils.”
— Tim Cook

Slow, disconnected import networks are losing you sales and eroding margins. Traditional import networks take 4–8 months from source to shelf, causing markdowns, stockouts, and tied-up capital. This isn’t gravity; it’s drift—costing millions and ceding markets to faster, more connected competitors.

The history of ‘modern global trade’ began in the 1980’s. China began to open their markets to trade, and many companies did what companies often do: leverage low-cost inputs to create higher margins. Beyond the siren call of higher profits, China proved to be a highly reliable partner. They invested billions to become ‘the world's manufacturing hub.’ For decades, China continued to provide high-quality, low manufacturing costs, and exceptional service, enabling retailers to scale without fundamentally rethinking their import networks.

Then, in 2020, everything changed.

The world shut down, and it wasn’t clear when or even if manufacturing would come back online. Slowly the ‘lights came back on’ and manufacturing resumed as normal; however, nothing was the same. More recently, the current administration began to use tariffs as a proxy for national security. This created additional tension, and many importers were compelled to adopt a China-plus-N strategy, whether they were ready or not.

The New Reality: Complexity Has Tripled

Two large retailers I work with have tripled the number of countries they sourced from just three years ago. Each new country brings new suppliers, regulations, lead times, raw material norms, and quality expectations. While diversification reduces risk, it also dramatically increases operational complexity.

Supplier onboarding takes longer. Compliance is harder. Communication becomes fragmented. Forecasting becomes less accurate. And without digital alignment, each additional node in the network becomes another point of failure.

There Is Hope

Technology has the potential to transform the way we conduct business in ways that weren’t possible even a few years ago. However, like all new technologies, it will require change. Import networks must evolve from loosely coordinated operations into unified, data-driven ecosystems.

The Import Network: Today vs. the Future

Today
Most import networks still function like they did in the 1980s. Seven functions act in a loose confederation without the benefit of modern technology. Each group — design, sourcing, buying, manufacturing, compliance, logistics, and quality — works with its own systems, spreadsheets, and disconnected processes. Minor delays accumulate into major inefficiencies over a long lead-time cycle.

Future:
Modern import networks will operate in tighter, more linear alignment. With eight functions connected through real-time data, automation, and shared visibility, organizations will be able to resolve many of the inefficiencies that exist today. This shift has the potential to unlock higher margins, more accurate buys, and faster pathways to market.

What’s Driving the Need for Change?

Geopolitical pivots

Trade wars, tariffs, sanctions, and shifts like reshoring and nearshoring have increased risk. Buyers must shorten supply chains, diversify sources, and avoid overcommitting to any single region or supplier. The speed of change means decision-makers need real-time visibility and the ability to evaluate scenarios quickly.

• Money: Imported products are fundamentally a sale waiting to occur. The faster, better, and lower-cost they arrive, the faster, better, and higher margin they are sold. Every day of delay erodes value.

• Tech adoption: AI and advanced analytics provide better demand forecasting, risk assessment, and scenario modeling. When paired with clean, structured data, these tools help procurement and sourcing teams respond rapidly and optimize inventory, cost, and capacity.

• Financial pressure: Economic uncertainty, inflation, and rising inventory carrying costs make leaner, smarter purchasing a financial imperative — not a preference.

• Competitive pressure: Companies that operate with the “Amazon model” — integrating procurement, planning, and sales — consistently outperform the market in growth, profitability, and market share.

Sustainability and Compliance

• Government regulations and ESG standards now require more rigorous supplier tracking and long-term strategic alignment — not just cost cutting.

• As 2026 planning gets underway, brands and retailers are prioritizing margin discipline, operational agility, and resilience.

• After several years of unpredictable consumer demand, geopolitical disruption, and increasing compliance requirements, many organizations are rethinking how they plan, source, and collaborate across their global value chains.

Technology as the Catalyst

The potential for AI in import networks is significant; however, it requires a clean and stable data source — often referred to as a Large Language Model (LLM). With a strong foundation, AI can support more advanced decision-making and provide more robust insights to existing systems, such as ERP platforms, PLM systems, or quality management tools.

Case Study

A large apparel importer wanted to expand their quality process to include mill quality data as well as feedback from consumers. This required more resources and more advanced analytics. For example, the ability to identify and adopt best practices, improve resource planning, forecast risk, and identify issues early in the lifecycle.

AI provided these tools, allowing inspection teams to view their network holistically, compare performance across suppliers and mills, and stay ahead of potential problem areas before they became costly.

Smarter Decisions

Smarter decisions rely on real-time data, predictive analytics, automation, and strategic sourcing. The goal is to make purchasing choices that prioritize resilience, cost control, and long-term supplier relationships — rather than just immediate price savings.

The import market is changing rapidly. The question is no longer if your network strategy should evolve, but how quickly you can adapt.

Digital Solutions to Power 2026

By digitizing your import network, businesses lay the foundation for next-generation performance and new operating models. This includes the ability to:

• Improve time to market

• Increase agility and visibility

• Eliminate smartsheets and gain real-time network optimization

• Drive operational control and cost efficiency

• Improve collaboration with suppliers and factories

• Ensure transparency and compliance across every product line

  
  

Sources

• Top 13 Supply Chain AI Use Cases with Examples

• Unilever – AI for Supply Chain Synchronization

• 5 real-world use cases of AI in procurement

• How Global Companies Use AI to Prevent Supply Chain Disruptions

• AI in Retail and E-Commerce