- Findings highlight the need for data accuracy to bolster supply chain integrity and the use of AI in the year ahead
- Supply chain managers are prioritizing tackling counterfeits, preventing shrink and loss, and reducing misloads and delivery errors
Findings from Impinj’s new Supply Chain Integrity Outlook 2025 report put the spotlight on a data accuracy gap that leaves many struggling to find the level of insights, visibility, and accuracy required to drive confidence in their supply chain and respond quickly to market changes.
Based on a survey of 1,000 US supply chain managers, while 91 percent of supply chain managers believe they are equipped to drive accurate supply chain visibility, the reality is 33 percent consistently obtain accurate, real-time inventory data.
The report’s findings show how the supply chain data accuracy gap hinders supply chain managers’ ability to address key challenges including counterfeit goods, shrink and theft, misload and delivery errors, meeting sustainability requirements, and effectively implementing artificial intelligence (AI) within their organization’s supply chain.
Data Blind Spots
“Supply chain managers continue to face data blind spots that prevent them from ensuring secure, reliable, and adaptable supply chains,” said Jeff Dossett, the company’s chief revenue officer in a statement with the report. “It’s essential that organizations address the data accuracy gap by putting technology in place to surface accurate data that fuels the real-time, actionable insights and visibility needed to ensure supply chain resilience.”
To that end, the report reveals over half (52 percent) of supply chain managers face challenges responding to rapid peaks in customer demand driven by social media- and influencer-driven trends. Nearly half (47 percent) of supply chain managers report that changes in customer demand due to growth in social media storefronts (49 percent) and the rise of the thrift movement (47 percent) are among the top challenges for their organization’s supply chain.
In the coming year, supply chain managers are prioritizing tackling counterfeits, preventing shrink and loss, and reducing misloads and delivery errors. Sixty five percent of supply chain managers agree it’s a challenge for their organization to reduce the amount of counterfeit goods entering the supply chain.
New Technologies
With nearly all retail supply managers are taking measures to combat counterfeiting, the top measure is implementing new technologies for authentication of goods in transit (44 percent), followed by general goods verification (42 percent), and introducing more authentication checkpoints throughout the supply chain (40 percent).
To combat shrink and theft in retail, which 60 percent of respondents are intending to do, 48 percent plan to increase security checkpoints during transit and delivery and 41 percent will implement new technologies for tracking goods.
For transportation and logistics firms, managers are concerned about growing volumes of Load Planning Problems (LPPs), misloads, and delivery errors impacting their organization. Survey respondents revealed that the largest volume of errors is as a result of delivery and last-mile misloads (24 percent) and label inaccuracies (22 percent); 48 percent of these firms plan to invest in improving shipment accuracy and reducing delivery errors as a critical part of their sustainability efforts.
AI Inaccuracies
Organization across all walks of business are increasingly reliant on data. But inaccuracy fuels challenges implementing AI effectively in achieving real-time inventory insights, visibility, and accuracy are also impacting their ability to effectively implement AI within the supply chain. The report reveals that data accuracy is the top challenge supply chain managers face (43 percent) in effectively implementing AI to improve their organization’s supply chain, followed by alongside data availability and access to real-time data.
Another issue all businesses face—the environmental impact of their operations— continues to be one of the biggest challenges faced by supply chain managers. Over a quarter (27 percent) report continued issues reducing the environmental impact of their organization’s supply chain, and 25 percent cite challenges in meeting more stringent ESG regulations, such as the European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Across sectors, supply chain managers report the top ways their organizations are implementing strategies to improve sustainability include 52 percent improving the measurement of their sustainability efforts, 44 percent improving last-mile delivery efficiency, 41 percent reducing waste, and 40 percent implementing recycling initiatives.