Reviewing Supply Chain Conflicts: Manufacturer Vs Multi-brand Retail

 manufacturer vs multi-brand retail is one of the classic cases of supply chain conflicts.

Manufacturer vs multi-brand retail conflicts is one of the most classic cases of supply chain conflict, as the manufacturer will want the retailer to work with high service levels as to ensure availability of his product on the shelf. However, a multi-brand retailer across the world or any big departmental store would want to maintain a high product availability at the category level and not on a brand level.
If the cost of substitution of competing brands is not very high, the departmental store does not mind which brand” is available at the store as long as the category product are available. This model is valid for products that do not have a very high level of brand loyalty. For example “ Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese, Butter, jams, sauces “ which are mostly generic products”
In the above cases,  the  multi-brand retail chains would like to work on a lower service level as to keep his “overall cost low This substitution model, which the multi chains believe in, is in direct confrontation with the model the manufacturers believe in.  However for a single sourced item in a business to business environment, we don’t see the kind of conflicts we see in “ product categories that are more or less “commodities “.