Q1/Q2 2024 Insights & Indicators

TradeBeyond’s Retail Sourcing Report program is expanding! In response to great feedback from our readers and clear demand for more in-depth coverage, we are increasing our publication frequency to six annual reports to even further explore critical topics that are shaping the future of supply chain management, including sustainability, traceability, and emerging technologies.

Our first installment of 2024, Retail Sourcing Report: Q1/Q2 2024 Insights & Indicators is packed with actionable research and analysis aimed at informing global sourcing and buying decisions. In addition to extensive evaluations of economic bellwethers, currency fluctuations, and commodity pricing, this report examines strategic shifts in global supply chains, including nearshoring, friendshoring, and onshoring, and breaks down five major trends that will be reshaping supply chains in 2024.

Key takeaways from the report:

• Extreme shipping rate volatility with attacks in the Red Sea sending shipping rates surging since December, more than doubling the rates on some European lanes and creating substantially longer transit times.
   

• The shipping crisis has made supply chain disruptions more likely, elevating fears of a return to the bottlenecks, component shortages, and product delays that supply chains endured in recent years.

• 46% of supply chain executives anticipate that AI, cognitive computing, and cloud applications will be their greatest areas of investment in digital operations over the next three years.

• The pace of digitalization continues to accelerate in retail supply chains, with more than 90% of supply chain managers saying their companies are actively engaged in digital transformation.

• The most recent GEP Index warned of continued downturn in global manufacturing through at least the first quarter of 2024 amid slumping demanding, especially in Europe.