Woolworth Overhauls Its Supply Chain

A $1 billion supply chain overhaul is fueling sharp cost savings for Australia’s largest retailer. Woolworths’ supply chain fixes, dubbed Mercury II, are aimed at cutting the cost of merchandise transportation.

“Supply chain and big data development is likely to enable Woolworths to simultaneously increase technology and scale advantages in food and to leverage its scale in food into a competitive advantage in non-food,” Credit Suisse analyst Grant Saligari said on Wednesday (Sept. 24), according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Credit Suisse also sees the chain taking a much larger slice of the country’s non-food segment “by integrating supply chains and systems in food, liquor and general merchandise.”