New research has found that just six per cent of European retailers have developed a digital trading relationship with their supply chain.

A study of 700 European retailers and manufacturers conducted by digital services provider TrueCommerce found that efforts to digitise supply chains are falling short of industry aspirations, with 85 per cent saying they would like to digitise trade with their entire supplier base.

By comparison, on average, retail businesses trade electronically with just 57 per cent of their supply chain.

For businesses in the process of, or considering, digitising interaction with their supply chain, a skills gap (37 per cent) was the main obstacle for them to overcome, with similar numbers citing issues with resourcing (34 per cent).

David Grosvenor, managing director at TrueCommerce Europe, said: “Supply chains across every part of the economy are under more pressure than ever before, as retailers at the head of the chain look to innovate in order to manage cost and remain competitive.

“However, there is clearly a significant void between where businesses currently are and where they want to be in terms of their ability to automate processes and trade data both rapidly and seamlessly,” he added.

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