anning and supply chain, Maile English, shares her thoughts on some of the biggest supply-chain topics and trends in 2025. Aloha Collection’s top three priorities for the supply chain 1. Risk management “We are focused on developing short, medium and long-term plans to mitigate geopolitical risks that could impact our supply chain. The includes assessing our commercial strategies, factory operations and distribution network to identify areas of vulnerability and taking measures to reduce risk, ensuring that the business is prepared to respond to disruptions or changes,” English told Inside Retail in an interview earlier this year. 2. Proactive planning and financial management “We are working to implement a more robust and proactive approach to planning, ensuring that our business is financially stable and running lean, with the ability to chase opportunities.” 3. Operational excellence “Our goal is to implement operational changes across the business to improve efficiency and reduce waste. This includes strengthening partnerships with our third-party logistics and factories, implementing automated solutions to reduce manual work, developing new processes that are scalable and enhancing cross-functional ways of working. Strong collaboration, effective communication and alignment on common goals are essential to achieving operational efficiency across our global supply chain.” The potential impact of tariffs Even before the Trump administration announced its tariffs policy, English said she expected tariffs to impact Aloha Collection primarily by increasing costs. “We proactively planned for some of this impact in our 2025 budget; however, at the time, there was still a lot of uncertainty as to what the tariffs would be. Now that we have a better understanding, we have analyzed our financial plan and adjusted forecasts accordingly,” she said. “To mitigate the impact of tariffs, we are reducing operational expenses, evaluating our pricing strategy, negotiating costing and terms with our suppliers and diversifying manufacturing operations. We have also partnered with a firm that specializes in international trade law, which has enabled us to gain key insights into global policy changes and learn how we can adjust our supply chain to adapt while also remaining compliant.” The evolution of reverse logistics English believes reverse logistics is evolving through better technology, sustainability and circular economy initiatives and a growing secondary market for refurbished or resale products. “Reverse logistics hasn’t been a huge issue in our business because we are fortunate to have a very low return rate. However, in the long term, I do see a big opportunity for us to figure out how our products can be recycled or repurposed and to integrate this process into our supply chain,” she said. The emerging technologies disrupting retail supply chains “Predictive analytics tools powered by AI and machine learning will enable companies to improve demand forecasting and inventory management,” English said. “Automated systems that are integrated throughout end-to-end supply chain operations will improve efficiency and reduce costs. On-demand printing and manufacturing technology will unlock new business opportunities and enable more localized production, reducing some dependency on global suppliers.” The balance between cost-cutting and customer experience English sees many cost variables that don’t necessarily affect the customer experience. “Improving forecasting and inventory management can reduce storage and holding costs while meeting customer demand. The landed cost of goods can be reduced by negotiating with vendors or getting multiple quotes. For example, you may be able to get a discount from a vendor on a larger bulk order or you may increase your vendor selection to ensure competitive pricing,” she said. “Within transportation logistics, you could leverage different quotes and shipping options from multiple freight forwarders or negotiate more favorable terms with your supplier. “For outbound order fulfillment, you could implement a rate shopping logic [comparing prices among] multiple carriers or give the customer different shipping options and allow them to choose. “Packaging, supplies and materials should also be looked at because all of these things can add up, even the little things like the cost of a hangtag or polybag, or printed insert materials, or the size of a box that’s used for shipping. “In conclusion, I think it’s really important to have accurate visibility into all of the costs associated with supply-chain operations so you can make informed decisions on what to optimize without affecting customer experience.” This story first appeared in the March 2025 issue of Inside Retail US.