Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supply Chain Visibility in the Retail Supply Chain: A Case Study of Uchumi Super Markets Limited - Kenya

Uchumi Supermarket Ltd though in receivership has proved to be a success story in its turnaround efforts as it recorded profits last year. The success is mainly attributed to the suppliers who have demonstrated resilience and patience in seeing the company make a complete recovery. In regard to this, it’s important to understand that the supermarket has had to undergo a restructuring process that has seen sustainability of profits through largely ensuring visibility in its operations more so those regarding supply chain activities. Suppliers, customers among other stakeholders are benefiting from the effectiveness of the changes put in place. Supply chain visibility is the access to accurate, timely information throughout the supply chain processes and networks, allowing organizations to make decisions quicker and with more accuracy. The study aimed to ascertain the effectiveness of supply chain visibility by identifying the Enablers, Drivers and Benefits of SCV at retail supply chain taking a case of Uchumi Supermarket - Kenya. The research design for the study was a case study and the target population was all the managers in the six departments forming the management structure, stratified to top, middle and lower levels. Stratified Random sampling technique was used to determine the sample size which was 30% of every level in the strata. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data which were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that supply chain visibility has been very effective at retail supply chain. The need to put in place the supply chain visibility has been to gain control over the logistics network and processes within the supermarket chain. Information Technology as an enabler of supply chain visibility has also led to faster information flow throughout the retail supply chain resulting to accountability and responsibility among the supply chain personnel and enhancing accuracy of reports produced by supply chain personnel. Information technology has allowed inter-organizational communication and information flow technologies such as EDI (electronic data interchange), XML and eb-XML.