SouthAfrican retailers’ supply chains are bogged down by high costs, non-optimal inventory, poor demand forecasting, and unreliable and volatile service levels.

To compete on a global scale, South African companies, particularly larger enterprises, should collaborate to get maximum value from their supply chains.

These are some of the insights that emerged at the Consumer Goods Council of SA 2015 Summit on Friday.

Resolve Solution Partners strategic solutions lead Paul Dickson said: "South African retailers have the ability to optimise their competitive advantage, but currently bad forecasting makes for an unhappy customer experience. This has consequences for the brand, as well as the bottom line."

Mr Dickinson said collaboration between rivals in the sector on non-competitive issues within the supply chain would allow each to derive some kind of financial benefit.

"In the First World FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market, companies in the US grocery business, for example, are connected in one network. They can streamline aspects in the supply chain. They have invested a lot of money and their forecasting accuracy is about 70% or more," said Mr Dickson.