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The purpose of the paper is to explore the practices with logistics performance management in two textiles supply chains, and to identify the related best practices and barriers.

The method is a multiple case study of two textiles supply chains with a special focus on the rarely addressed interface between the manufacturer and the retail chain. The retail chains represent one large, global retail chain and one Nordic, comparably smaller retail chain. This paper is primarily empirical and describes practices for logistics performance management. The analysis discusses and explains best practices and barriers for logistics performance managements in textiles supply chains.

Differences were identified regarding practices, priorities and collaboration in the logistics performance management process. No textiles industry-specific practices were found. A way of exchanging action plans between the actors is an interesting best practice, which enables improvement projects even with long geographical distances. Barriers in the shape of difficulties in creating a collaborative culture were found; however, IT support seems no longer to be a barrier.

Two cases are explored, why a broader study is necessary to confirm the results. The best practices and barriers identified are similar to those known from manufacturing companies.

The detailed descriptions of logistics performance management practices can provide insights for practitioners. Even if the studied supply chains are important for the respective actors, there is a potential for increased effectiveness in textiles supply chains.

Supply chains for textiles products “starting at a manufacturer and ending in a retail chain” seem to be an unchartered territory and not many studies have been performed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and generate propositions of factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration in retail supply chains.

The performance management processes of two retail supply chains were explored and their degree of process integration was classified. Differences in the degree of performance management process integration and affecting factors lead to the generation of five propositions.

Dependence, brand importance, business process integration, performance demand and the existence of a performance management standard seem to be positively related to the degree of performance management process integration in the relation. Both factors that affect process integration in general and performance management process integration specifically are included. Some insights on integration in a vertically integrated retail chain were provided.

This study has specified the knowledge in process integration to the performance management process and expanded it into a retail context. It has generated a number of propositions on factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration, including a factor that was not found in previous research on manufacturing supply chains. The contribution to process integration theory is however limited until the propositions are validated in a broader study.

Knowledge in affecting factors is useful when “performance management managers” need to communicate integration ambitions with other managers within and outside their own company. The detailed descriptions of performance management processes and integration practices can serve as inspiring benchmarks, as in the daily groceries supply chain, where the industry standard is especially interesting. They can also indicate practices to avoid, as in the home textiles supply chain. Another managerial take-away is the need to handle each relation, manufacturer-wholesaler and wholesaler-retailer store, with their specific affecting factors in specific ways.

Previous knowledge on performance management process integration is mainly based on manufacturing companies. This study expands existing knowledge into a retail context.

This study aims to illustrate how retail chains with a green image align sustainable logistics actions, logistics measurements and contracts with logistics service providers (LSPs), and to develop a classification model that allows for a description of the various shades of green within companies.

We carried out a multiple case study of four retail chains with a green image operating in the Swedish market, collecting empirical data from the retail chains’ sustainability reports and home pages and conducting interviews with logistics, transportation and supply chain managers.

Based on the literature, we developed a classification model for judging green image, green logistics actions, green measurements and green contracts. The model is used to illustrate the different shades of green found within the respective retail chains. A green image seems well-aligned with green logistics actions. However, there are more levels to judge, and the measurement systems are not sufficiently developed to track green logistics actions. Contract handling is more developed among retail chains than measurements, which is positive, as this is a way of ensuring that LSPs are involved. In our classification model, greenwashing can be judged in a more nuanced way, delving deeper under the surface.

The provided classification model adds to our knowledge and illustrates the alignment within companies’ sustainable logistics. The robustness of the model can be strengthened by applying it to a larger number of cases and by continually validating its content and evaluation criteria.

The study’s main practical contribution is the classification model, which may potentially serve as a method for managers to easily judge the green alignment of a retail chain’s logistics.

Few empirical studies capture how retail chains measure environmental logistics performance, and even fewer concern contracts stipulating the environmental demands placed on LSPs.

This study investigated factors in the retail supply chains that were disrupted by the flow of the product distribution process from suppliers to retail stores and finally to consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This qualitative study involved 12 key informants from two manufacturing industries and three retail industries in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the analysis of empirical conditions employed qualitative content analysis to discover facts of the inbound and outbound supplies in retail supply chains.

This study revealed high demands for certain products and a shift in consumer purchase trends during the pandemic screwed merchandising planning in retail stores. These conditions have brought continuous impacts on the production processes of manufacturing industries that also faced constrained raw material supplies. Container shortage in the global supply chain has increasingly aggravated the crisis of retail supply chains. 10;

Retailers and all related parties are ready to anticipate the changing of the supply chain by preparing strategies to overcome the crisis.

A contribution is made to the global retail supply chain in times of crisis and can serve as a framework for further research in each region.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out structural analysis of potential supply chain risks and performance measures in fresh food retail by applying interpretive structural modeling (ISM).

Inputs were taken from industry experts in identifying and understanding interdependencies among food retail supply chain risks on different levels (sourcing and logistics outside the retail stores; storage and customer interface at the stores). Interdependencies among risks and their impact on performance measures are structured into a hierarchy in order to derive subsystems of interdependent elements to derive useful insights for theory and practice.

Using the ISM approach the risks and performance measures were clustered according to their driving power and dependence power. Change in/inadequate government regulations’ are at the bottom level of the hierarchy implying highest driving power and require higher attention and focussed mitigation strategies. Risks like lack of traceability, transport delays/breakdowns and temperature abuse, cross-contamination in transport and storage have medium driver and dependence powers.

The approach is focussed on food retail supply chains in the Indian context and thereby limits the ability to generalize the findings. The academics and experts were selected on convenience and availability.

It gives managers a better understanding of the risks and performance measures that have most influence on others (driving performance measures) and those measures which are most influenced by others (dependent performance measures) in fresh food retail and also a tool to prioritize them. This kind of information is strategic for managers who can use it to identify which performance measures they should concentrate on managing the trade-offs between measures. The findings and the applicability for practical use have been validated by both experts and practicing managers in food retail supply chains.

The work is perhaps the first to link supply chain risks with performance and explains the propagation of risks in food retail supply chains. It contributes to theory by addressing a few research gaps and provides relevant managerial insights for practitioners.

This paper aims to analyse past and current sustainability considerations and developments in scientific research and practice with a focus on the role of retailers in supply chains.

A summative content analysis is used to identify major research areas and industrial branches in the sustainability literature relevant to retail supply chains, and sustainability considerations in retail practice.

Sustainability‐related issues have been discussed for many years and the term sustainability has received increased attention in research since the mid‐1990s. In retail research, there seems to be a time lag of more than ten years in using the term sustainability compared to other fields in research and industry. However, some of these other research fields and industries have an impact on retail supply chains. At the same time, it seems that sustainability has received more attention in retail management practice compared to research applications.

Future retail research should try to integrate the findings from related research areas and industry sectors, and emerging issues in practice magazines.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of past and current sustainability research in retailing and sustainability relevance in retail practice. The paper considers the specific role of retailers in supply chains through a broad analysis of sustainability considerations in different research areas and industries relevant to retail supply chains.

In retail, product fitting is a critical operational practice. For many products, the operational outcome of the retail supply chain is determined by the customer physically fitting products. Digital product fitting is an emerging operational practice in retail that uses digital models of products and customers to match product supply to customer requirements. This paper aims to explore potential supply chain outcomes of digitalizing the operational practice of product fitting. The purpose is to explore and propose the potential of the practice to improve responsiveness to customer requirements and the utilization of existing variety in mass-produced products.

A maturity model of product fitting is developed to specify three levels of digitalization and potential outcomes for each level. Potential outcomes are developed based on empirical data from a case survey of three technology-developing companies, 13 retail cases and a review of academic literature.

With increasing maturity of digital product fitting, the practice can be used for more purposes. Besides matching product supply to customer demand, the practice can improve material flows, customer relationship management, assortment planning and product development. The practice of digital product fitting is most relevant for products where the final product configuration is difficult to make to order, product and customer attributes are easily measurable and tacit knowledge of customers and products can be formalized using digital modeling.

Potential outcomes are conceptualized and proposed. Further research is needed to observe actual outcomes and understand the mechanisms for both proposed and surprising outcomes in specific contexts.

The maturity model helps companies assess how their operations can benefit from digital product fitting and the efforts required to achieve beneficial outcomes.

This paper is a first attempt to describe the potential outcomes of introducing digital product fitting in retail supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain the triggers and processes of value creation in Australia's chicken meat supply chains. This industry was chosen as the critical case due to the rapid rise in poultry meat consumption in western markets. This study addresses the lack of understanding about the transformation of agri‐food supply chains to provide a chronological and historical explanation of patterns of value creation in this industry.

A historical case study approach was chosen. Multiple primary and secondary sources were collated and analysed to describe events in narrative form.

Analysis of the patterns of value creation revealed four major phases in the evolution of Australia's chicken meat supply chains. In each phase a dominant form of value creation was identified and the triggers that facilitated the transition between phases are described.

As the study is confined to a single industry, further research in other settings is needed to verify the patterns described. Since agri‐food supply chains are dynamic they should be continuously monitored to identify trends that resemble previous triggers and processes, or manifest as novel ones.

This study takes a historical perspective to identify the triggers and patterns of value creation in Australia's chicken meat supply chains. A schema of phases of value creation is offered that can potentially be applied by practitioners in other industries to diagnose the possible outcomes of prior events and actions by supply chain members.

To highlight the problems with and propose a framework for improving demand management in retail food supply chains.

The paper draws on empirical evidence from multiple case studies and develops a framework for improvement in demand management for retail food supply chains.

Analysis of the characteristics of demand within a number of retail food supply chains demonstrates a propensity for misalignment of demand and supply due to issues such as demand amplification, inappropriate production policies and inconsistencies with information systems and data handling procedures.

The case study evidence on which the conceptual framework is based is drawn exclusively from the UK, where retail food supply chains are generally more mature than in other parts of the world. The proposed framework is based on empirical evidence but has not been formally tested.

More collaboration, information sharing and joint planning beyond the manufacturer‐retailer interface is critical if retail food supply chains are to function efficiently and effectively in retail environments where promotional activity creates significant uncertainty.

Demand management in retail food supply chains has received little attention from supply chain researchers to date. This paper proposes a framework for improvement based on greater collaboration and joint planning from farm to fork.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant assessment criteria for retailer supply chain capability from the perspective of foreign food manufacturers, in an emerging market context, and to evaluate the development level of Russian retail chains in this sphere.

The authors use analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for the modelling and research method, with an exploratory workshop for the specification of the model structure, a web‐based questionnaire for priority weight development, and semi‐structured interviews for the validation of results. A food manufacturing‐based focus group participated in the modelling process.

A four‐level capability assessment model was created, with operational assessment criteria allocated into management, logistics or marketing categories. The results indicate that management‐related criteria have a dominant role in assessing the supply chain capability of a retail chain company. Furthermore, the priority weight of logistics capability is only somewhat higher in comparison to marketing capability, although it is ranked significantly lower in comparison to management capability. Operational level criteria weights are also provided. In terms of the evaluation of Russian retailers, the results indicate the slight dominance of logistics capability over marketing.

The research is based on an AHP process with a focus group discussion, implying a limited level of generalisability to other contexts.

This research provides practical insight on how to assess retailer supply chain capability in general, and describes the level of development of various capabilities and functional areas among Russian food retailers.

Our research provides a framework that may be used in Russia and other emerging market settings to evaluate the capability of retail partners from the manufacturer perspective.