Ed Lawson, Head of Content at The Retail Hive, caught up with Amy Allen from Selfridges to discuss how her team is managing stock complexity, making the most of limited space, and why people, not robots, underpin resilience.
Unpack all of the insights below…
Amy Allen
Ed Lawson
What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing right now?
Stock. We’re holding products from 650 suppliers and just under 300K SKUs, and as much as our buying team would like more space, the walls are not rubber. We’re servicing Cartier at one end of the spectrum. At the other, we’re turning over significant volume in Jellycat toys. That’s a completely different problem for a supply chain geared for low-volume, high-value products. The question is how to make the stock we hold more productive, and how to get better visibility across different streams.
How do carriers fit into this picture?
Carriers are central. I had a carrier manager role back in 2012 at Urban Outfitters, and it was a very different world. We sometimes did barmy things like printing a Royal Mail label and giving it to DPD, because it cost more to open a new carrier lane. Today, having a carrier manager is non-negotiable if you want to stay agile.
What’s changed is the ability to put in rules and get performance data back. We use Medallia to capture customer sentiment, and link it through our CMS to the carrier who delivered the parcel. That gives us a clear view of doorstep experience, and the differences between carriers are stark. One premium carrier might have an NPS score of 70, while a localised carrier scores 30, even if their on-time performance is the same. Customers have more empathy with one than the other, and we can see that directly in the feedback.
It’s also commercial. In 2017, we moved to DPD. The uplift in cost was offset by a reduction in goodwill spend, and NPS went up by 10 points. It ended up being cost neutral for investment, but the customer experience was better. That’s the level of visibility we need.
How do you balance cost with maintaining premium service standards?
That’s the real question. It’s easy to say “switch to a cheaper carrier and save money,” but the data shows the impact immediately in sentiment and call volumes. Since 2019, I’ve owned both the carrier budget and customer experience. That means I can see the direct correlation between carrier performance and WISMO calls, and the associated costs. It’s no good saving on carrier fees if the call centre is flooded!
The challenge now is how premium carriers maintain their standard under pressure—higher labour costs, higher volumes, and peaks where you sometimes get unbranded agency drivers. Does the premium still hold then? That’s what we’re watching closely.
And what about automation? How does that fit?
We’ve been in the same building for 30 years and just signed on for another six, so full automation isn’t realistic. We’re looking at isolated areas where automation can pay back, but we also need to be smarter about visibility. Our new logistics partner is supporting us with AI forecasting and planning tools. If we can support merchandising teams with better data, they’ll buy less, and we’ll move less. That’s a win.
The real ambition is to build good inbound practices now. If we move in six years, we’ll take those habits with us.
Automation can help, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, you could lose agility.”
If you had to give one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t lose flexibility. Over the last five years, we’ve had Brexit, Covid, labour shortages, cost spikes, and political shocks. If we hadn’t built flexible supply chains, we wouldn’t be here today. Automation can help, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, you could lose agility. Our resilience has come from people and flexibility. That’s what has allowed us to adapt.
See you next year?
We can’t wait to reconnect with our members at next year’s Supply Chain Leaders Exchange!
When? 14th-15th May 2026
Where? Venue to be confirmed, but you can expect sumptuous surroundings as usual!
Who? This meeting is exclusively for senior retailers in the supply chain and fulfilment sector, with the opportunity to meet best-in-class solution providers
