Haim Baron of Chainlane On The Supply Chain And The Future Of Retail

An Interview With Martita Mestey

Greater and quicker replenishment: keeping the right stock available, so you order respectively from DC or restock from back of the house to the retail shelves for the incoming customers.

As part of our series about the future of retail, I had the pleasure of interviewing Haim Baron.

Haim Baron is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chainlane, a supply chain transparency platform helping retail, manufacturing, logistics, food & beverage, and more improve operations from end to end with full visibility, tracking, and data intelligence.

His broad supply chain experience includes helping companies such as Nike, Tesco, M&S, OFM, Wed2b, and others, while working with global leading partners such as SATO, Denso, Wiliot, and more.

With retailers, he’s been helping brands and organizations achieve inventory accuracy and integrity including successfully implementing omnichannel strategies, improving customer engagement and satisfaction, and increasing bottom line sales. In addition, thanks to such visibility and optimization, companies worked with have been enhancing sustainability by reaching smarter supply chain operations tracking all items, movement, and status from manufacturing to distribution centers to individual retail stores and to the last mile.

Haim’s industry expertise grants a data-driven view of the supply chain as a whole, the best direction for optimization, and how to implement so to make it a successful reality for retailers and others to see more, so they can succeed more.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve been in various Hi-tech senior positions in Sales/Biz Dev yet was looking to transition into an industry which has global impact and is packed with plenty of innovation; Retail really fit my aspiration, and when I ran across Chainlane (formerly RFKeeper) the supply chain focus within intrigued me greatly by being so ingrained within business operations and having such a practical impact to business growth and success. I noticed the potential and the vision that can be brought to the global retail arena and was excited at the opportunity.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Being on the subject of the supply chain, a few quick stories come to mind:

• OFM + Wed2b: planning, integrating, and implementing the mobilization of RFID within large scale retail chains as well as witnessing the positive outcomes it has brought was like a prophecy coming true.
• Tesco & M&S: due to the size of these department stores, a hybrid strategy was taken for inventory, combining Barcode and RFID, which brings the companies up-to-speed while also saving immensely on labor and management expenses.

Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

We’ve just recently succeeded in the launch of Terminal X’s futuristic retail store.

Terminal X is a multi-brand online retailer with successful web operations who were interested in providing an offline experience like no other, and we’ve done so by integrating RFID-powered no-touch checkout, digital signage, smart fitting rooms, and much more which have not only received rave reviews but made offline retail exciting again.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

There isn’t one person to thank, rather I must pay respects to the supporting teams (current and previously), as well as strategic partners who support, influence, and accompany my journeys :)

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

By being able to assist leading retailers with their supply chain operations, we’re able to enhance efficiency and sustainability. Besides the reduced costs and increased profits, it helps automate processes, optimize labor and utility, and free up time to innovative. In addition, by helping companies run smarter supply chains, they end up producing less, ending up with less waste, and less toxicity…for a greener world.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. The Pandemic has changed many aspects of all of our lives. One of them is the fact that so many of us have gotten used to shopping almost exclusively online. Can you share a few examples of different ideas that large retail outlets are implementing to adapt to the new realities created by the Pandemic?

Of course, driving efficient omnichannel operations and working towards an “endless aisle” is a major direction retailers are taking. By being able to combine in-store, online, mobile, social media, email, and more channels, customers can click and collect from anywhere they wish while having a much more efficient, reliable, and streamlined experience.

This is being taken a step further by expanding the catalog offering towards an “endless aisle” with more products and availability, practically granting a customer what they want, when and where they want it. Moreover, at the end, especially due to the pandemic, individuals long for an offline experience whether to try clothes and accessories on, see and test the products with their own eyes and hands, and also gain access to new experiences not available online, such as we’ve hinted at before with Terminal X: digital signage, smart fitting rooms, contactless checkout, and more.

All these experiences expand and improve thanks to being able to better connect so many data points available across the board within all channels, and also better integrating offline activities with online purchases, browsing, and search for a much greater personalized shopping experience anywhere and anytime.

The supply chain crisis is another outgrowth of the pandemic. Can you share a few examples of what retailers are doing to pivot because of the bottlenecks caused by the supply chain crisis?

Absolutely.

The short version is the ability to implement data tracking, data gathering, and data utility much more efficiently, thereby syncing the online and offline world much better. This bigger picture isn’t just a glance, rather an in-depth view thanks to all the available data that is now much more available and accessible offline as well, helping companies see their supply chain in a way never been possible before, with greater detail and capabilities to make changes, improvements, and take action for the business.

Regarding specific verticals:

Manufacturers are implementing advanced technologies to help them digitize their production and assembly lines. By gaining visibility across all processes, they can assess the status of an open project, realize the available inventory (or lack of), as well as optimize labor respective to available data and real-time production. This allows them to plan ahead much more accurately, being aware of potential bottlenecks before they occur, including setting up new projects to take the place of others which may be delayed because of low or missing material.

Within logistics, these same tactics help track all items across all locations, en-route, as well as delivery status, helping companies know where they stand, grant more data for greater internal and external transparency, and overall enhance the operations having a bigger picture across the board.

How do you think we should reimagine our supply chain to prevent this from happening again in the future?

As mentioned above, implementing data tracking on items and processes allows businesses to know what is going on at any given time and adapt quickly and efficiently. This means knowing whether deadlines will be realized, status of items in manufacturing, within shipments, across all locations, as well as delivery and success. This big “data” picture grants much more understanding on what’s working, what isn’t, and where are areas that can be improved…and it is accurate, rather than hunch-driven.

In your opinion, will retail stores or malls continue to exist? How would you articulate the role of physical retail spaces at a time when online commerce platforms like Amazon Prime or Instacart can deliver the same day or the next day?

I believe retail stores will continue to exist. While individuals enjoy the accessibility and ease of online shopping, people still prefer seeing, touching, trying, and purchasing in person (as well as with others), and thus the offline experience will remain. And with all the enhanced data and capabilities, the experience will only become much more personalized and accurate, helping stores provide a greater experience to their audience.

Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise to retail companies and e-commerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

It is all about gathering and utilizing data much better in order to provide shoppers a greater experience, especially if they choose to leave the comfort of their homes. This could be done with smart fitting rooms which provide you more information on items being tried on, a contactless checkout to save time and avoid long lines which may be a turn off, or digital signage to grant more information within their shopping journey in the store itself. There are many additional ways to improve the shopping experience which may include innovative ideas, advanced technologies, as well as old-school good customer support and engagement.

Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a fantastic retail experience that keeps bringing customers back for more? Please share a story or an example for each.

There are a variety of examples above, so I will make it straightforward and what retailers should focus on:

• Control inventory: know the ins and outs of all items, so you know what’s available (or not) and customers can rely on what’s told to them (in store or online), avoiding mishaps or time waste.
• Greater and quicker replenishment: keeping the right stock available, so you order respectively from DC or restock from back of the house to the retail shelves for the incoming customers.
• Responsiveness: be attentive to needs based on data, demand, and trends, providing your store relevant traffic, as well as accurate and appropriate selection.
• Data: combine the variety of data sources (channels, online, offline), extract practical insights, and utilize understanding to provide customers what they are looking for…before they know they are.
• Omnichannel: successfully connect your offline and online stores for better experiences and sales, also being able to better serve your customers with returns, replacements, upgrades, and fulfillment.

My particular experience is in the grocery retail industry, and I’m passionate about addressing food deserts and addressing food insecurity. Can you please share a few things that can be done by the retail industry to address the problem of food insecurity?

Beyond the examples set above for a greater shopping experience for retail, such visibility for the entire food & beverage supply chain can help immensely re food security. With such sight, you can track all shipments and ingredients across the process to ascertain their count, arrival, as well as healthy status. Moreover, being able to see all items at any given time can assist with operations, as well as a smoother and quicker recall process to avoid greater harm and issues. Of course, with this enhanced view across the supply chain, businesses can better plan and prepare, order more accurately, and track all material thus decreasing shrinkage as well as reducing food waste immensely. All these combine can help achieve a more sustainable direction.

You may dig much deeper on resilient food supply chain in Authority Magazine coverage.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can visit our website to find out how we’re providing supply chain transparency to companies, read our blog for industry know-hows, insights, and more, as well as follow us socially to keep up with news, events, and successes.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!