How do you communicate supply chain delays? (And a definition of ‘supply chain management’)

Helen — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 11:05:48 GMT

This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.

Supply Chain Management aka 'Supply Chain Headaches' aka 'Supply Chain Challenges': call it what you will, the process of receiving goods and getting them in front of your customers continues to make the headlines in the wake of the pandemic.

What is Supply Chain Management?

The definition of Supply Chain Management, according to Investopedia is: “the management of the flow of goods and services and includes all processes that transform raw materials into final products. It involves the active streamlining of a business's supply-side activities to maximize customer value and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

Shipping delays and shortages of supplies out of your control, so how do you let your customers know why their order has been delayed?

The #1 tip in this Town Square post about How to Communicate Out-of-Stock Items is to Tell customers as soon as possible about delayed orders. Update your website as soon as you can, send an email or share a post on social media.

How do you communicate delays when an item, material or ingredient won’t arrive on time for an order? How do your customers react?

Feel free to share your experience below or join the Community to comment.

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How do you communicate supply chain delays? (And a definition of ‘supply chain management’)