Emerging Techniques and Technologies for Supply Chain Management -- Improvement Opportunities in Retail Logistics -- A Dynamic Real-Time Vehicle Routing System for Distribution Operations -- Bargaining and Alliances in Supply Chains -- Last-Mile Supply Chain Integration: Easy Connection and Information Exchange between Suppliers and Retailers -- Multichannel Retailing: Relationships, Integration and Electronic Transformation -- Multichannel Retailing and Brand Policies -- Designing Alternative Store Layouts for Internet Retailing -- In Search for Viable e-Solutions -- Beyond CPFR: Defining the Future of Supply Chain Collaboration -- On Shelf Availability: An Examination of the Extent, the Causes, and the Efforts to Address Retail Out-of-Stocks -- Increasing Shelf Availability Through Internet-Based Information Sharing and Collaborative Store Ordering -- Towards the Development of an Algorithm to Discover Out-Of-Shelf Situations -- Food Value Chain Analysis -- Extending ECR into Product Innovation -- Beyond RFID: Supporting Supply Chain Management with Intelligent Tagging -- Turning Signals into Profits in the RFID-Enabled Supply Chain -- Shopping in the 21st Century: Embedding Technology in the Retail Arena -- Towards ’smarter’ Supply and Demand-Chain Collaboration Practices Enabled by RFID Technology.

The dominant role of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices in the retail industry today has created a strong need for collaboration between business and research communities for the development of robust theoretical frameworks and intelligent technological solutions towards providing direct managerial implications to the retail industry players. To this end, this book aims to highlight the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the retail industry, under the perspective of the changing consumer and business behavioural patterns, the reconfiguration of intra- and inter-organizational relationships and the evolving technological capabilities. Elaborating on the core ECR concepts, the book emphasizes the role of consumer behaviour research as the driving force for the configuration of the retail value chain processes. Along these lines, the application of the latest technological inventions to enthuse consumers through accurate targeting along with the identification of the potential of the new technologies, processes and strategies for transforming the supply chain constitute the main pillars of the book. Specifically, the book focuses on the emerging techniques and technologies for supply chain management and collaboration as well as on the emerging relationships and the electronic transformations governing multichannel retailing. It aims at supporting retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and third parties applying the latest technological inventions to transform the value chain. It also attempts to guide practitioners to effectively proceed in employing new technologies to ignite consumer enthusiasm. Similarly, the objective of this book is to help companies target more accurately consumer and shopper wishes with focused investments, in shorter time, and with more success. Finally, the book underlines the great potentials for new technologies and processes from a supply and demand side perspective.