Case Study #4 (7/11 Japan) A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? -A convenience store can be responsive in a few different ways in order to meet customer needs and wants. The store can conduct customer surveys in order to get a direct response on what the store is lacking or what customers prefer. They could do a store analysis also which would show them customer purchase patterns so they can pinpoint the hot items and when they should be in stock. In both cases the risk is that you could get the wrong information and stock your store wrong, or you could end up only tailoring to one customer’s needs, which might not be the same needs as the majority of your customers. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice?
-Rapid replenishment as a strategy for supply and demand runs a few risk which are: customers will discontinue use of a product, the product will remain on the shelf until the shelf life is exceeded or you might not have what the customer needs/wants at the time of need because you are consistently replenishing other products from other customers. By the time the product that the customer wanted arrives in the store, that customer may have already found a new convenience store to purchase it from. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? 

 Seven-Eleven utilizes a dominant strategy; they choose locations in areas with existing clusters