What the Retail Industry Needs to Know About Supply Chain Mapping and Traceability

Retailers have the largest variety of products and materials of any industry. It may seem impossible that a retailer could achieve transparency into their supply chain for all the goods they sell. But what many retailers don’t understand is that much of the burden of supply chain mapping and traceability actually rests on manufacturers and brands. Today, there are established channels of communication that have made retail one of the industries with the best chance of collecting large amounts of supplier data in near real time. It is possible to map and trace in retail, all the way to the raw material. 

Below are some special considerations retailers can take when implementing supply chain mapping and traceability.

Continuous Mapping

The EU’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and Corporate sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) require retailers to conduct due diligence on their end-to-end supply chain, identifying each upstream brand, manufacturer, and supplier that contributes to the production of their goods. Whereas supply chain mapping was once an annual exercise, it has become essential to map and trace all products as they arrive - in fact, the EUDR requires a map of farms and forests before goods are placed on the EU market. While retailers can place the onus of mapping and traceability on suppliers, they will need to collect the information continuously to ensure that every shipment is compliant.

Product-Level Tracing

Whether for EU due diligence or US forced labor compliance, mapping and tracing must be done at the product / SKU level. Why? In the case of US compliance, specific components are under scrutiny by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including batteries, PVC, and aluminum;any product that contains these could be subject to detention. The EUDR, on the other hand, requires data collection for a number of specific HS codes with sometimes subtle distinctions. Asking suppliers to provide mapping and traceability without a clear idea of which HS codes and materials are involved might lead to disruptions that could affect more products than necessary.

Private Labels

Depending on the retailer, a significant number of products on store shelves may actually be manufactured and imported as part of private labels. In these cases, the retailer has the same responsibilities for supply chain mapping and traceability as a manufacturer. That responsibility includes maintaining an accurate map of every site down to the raw materials and collecting transaction documents to validate every link in the chain. Fortunately the suppliers of private label goods have almost certainly started their own due diligence efforts and will be able to share the data upon request.