U.S., Aug. 19 -- As supply chains become more intelligence-driven and begin to utilise insights to serve customers in new and innovative ways, traditional transaction-led models are no longer cutting it.

65% of shopping begins at the search, according to Gartner. Instead of focusing efforts on converting people at the buy, retailers should look to convert at the point of search. Abandoned shopping carts offer insights into lost sales. Often, the reasons are related to shipping and return policies. This offers an opportunity to directly impact revenue and sales by making more attractive offers that convert abandoned carts into sales.

Amazon has led the way toward two-day and same day shipping, a chase that retailers cannot win if they ho...