by Marlon Madden
Even after the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, Barbadians will largely still want to do their local shopping online and they will require the options of delivery or curbside pick-up.
This is the view of Gavin Bovell, Assistant Lecturer in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus.
He told Today’s BUSINESS that maintaining the option of online shopping and offering delivery service will be the differentiating factors for most companies going forward.
Bovell said he believed Barbadians have become somewhat dependent on the convenience of a delivery service, adding that a company that is able to meet its projected timeline for that delivery could easily gain customers.
“The level of convenience that the pandemic has opened the eyes of the Barbadian consumer to it is going to be very difficult for them to accept less going forward. I believe it will grow and I believe it will become even more convenient.
Think about the convenience of delivery, ordering your groceries online and having them delivered to your door step, ordering your groceries online and going and picking them up, ordering your groceries online and having them picked up curb-side,” he said.
Indicating that some sectors could see growth in their delivery business in coming months, Bovell said it was critical for businesses to pay attention to customer service and delivering high quality products.
“You have to have certain quality standards and that is what the customer will demand. The customers will demand greater quality, not just convenience,” he said, while indicating that customers were no longer loyal to brand.
“Barbadians are a very sophisticated consumer group and they are very knowledgeable and know what they want, and they are willing to pay for it. For that reason, I believe that industry is going to continue to grow.
In terms of specific sectors that are going to see this growth, the retail sector and companies that are manufacturing but have a retail presence – having this capability will be an imperative,” said Bovell.
Pointing to the need for companies to have a dedicated logistics and supply chain department, the university lecturer said this could better help companies mitigate against panic buying and having to write-off huge amounts of inventory.
“Those things can be avoided if you manage inventory and forecast well. I am not saying that logistics and supply chain is a silver bullet, but it is a bulletproof vest. It protects you and that protection is better than fighting this war against a very volatile global supply chain environment,” he noted.
Bovell said over the past year there has been a noticeable uptick in the demand for the Masters programme in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, which was introduced at the Cave Hill Campus around 2011 and revamped in 2017.
He said he believed the need for studies in this area will become even more critical as Barbados and the rest of the region ramp up food security.
“We have a lot of opportunities that are now being developed with Guyana to now boost the agricultural sector. With this increase in the collaboration, we need to ensure that the logistics network that supports that collaboration is in place and is operationally sound, efficient and resilient.
“Although you are growing the products in Guyana, you have to transport it to Barbados and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean, and that link has to be commercially viable and if not, is government going to step in and provide that role?
“So those are the logistics concerns that have to be addressed, not just looking at building out capacity but how do we connect these products to the markets they need to be in,” said Bovell.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
