Supermarkets have a tough choice to make amid the current turkey shortage – dramatically inflate prices amid a cost-of-living crisis to keep profit margins high or mitigate the effects of the shortage. The best decisions will consider one of three alternative ways to keep company profit margins maximised, while remaining sustainable.

Find new sources of supply: mitigating the effects of the shortage of turkeys is possible through rerouting supply chains to take advantage of new, more plentiful sources of the poultry in other regions. Decision-making technologies can suggest the alternative sources and shipping routes which will keep company profit margins maximised, as well as consider ESG values to ensure sustainability is a critical factor.

Direct customers to different products: supermarkets could consider directing customers to different types of products this holiday season, such as offering discounts on alternative poultry or directing customers to vegetarian/ vegan options. By using tech to forecast how much turkey will be available in stores, retailers can optimally adjust discounting to funnel customers towards or away from available turkey stock.

Predict best course of action as early as possible: using supply sensing technologies, organisations can find both new sources of supply, and decide upon the best discounts in-store, to mitigate the effect of the shortage. In this case, intelligent systems could use publicly available data to forecast the impact of bird flu, enabling retailers to set themselves up for a profitable festive season as efficiently as possible, by choosing the best courses of action at every stage.