TradeBeyond recently released its latest Retail Sourcing Report, a research brief that tracks global sourcing indicators including manufacturing activity, freight rates, commodity pricing, currency trends, and regional production outlooks!
The newest edition highlights a major shift in global trade dynamics. Rather than a single global sourcing model, companies are navigating a fragmented landscape where regional supply networks, nearshoring, and supplier diversification are becoming the norm.
Key findings from the report include:
- Global economic growth is expected to remain modest at roughly 3.3% in 2026, with emerging Asian markets such as India and Vietnam continuing to drive manufacturing growth
- Container freight rates are projected to decline as vessel capacity expands, though geopolitical disruptions could still trigger volatility
- Retailers are increasingly shifting from linear global supply chains toward regional supply webs, including nearshoring initiatives in Mexico and diversification across Southeast Asia
- Escalating tariffs and trade barriers are accelerating supply chain restructuring and strategic sourcing realignment
Nicole Brackett, Enterprise Account Executive at TradeBeyond, said tariffs and geopolitical fragmentation have moved from being periodic disruptions to constant variables in sourcing strategy.
“TradeBeyond’s most recent Retail Sourcing Report, Q1 2026 Insights and Indicators, shows that retailers are no longer optimizing for lowest cost alone, but that they are actively designing for resilience,” she said.
“This year, sourcing decisions are increasingly scenario-based. Retailers are modeling multiple “what-if” outcomes like shifting tariffs, trade restrictions, and regulatory divergence across regions. The main question has changed from “where is cheapest?” to “where can we sustain supply under changing conditions?”
“This is where TradeBeyond is seeing a major shift with organizations that centralize costing, supplier data, and trade inputs that can simulate these scenarios in real-time. The ability to understand true landed cost (and adjust sourcing strategies proactively) is becoming a competitive differentiator across industries. Ultimately, flexibility, visibility, and speed of decision making are now just as crucial as cost.”
Brackett said the shift toward regional sourcing is really about control and speed.
“The most recent Retail Sourcing Report highlights a clear rebalancing toward regionalization, driven by the need for greater control and responsiveness. Global supply chains were designed for efficiency, but they can be slow to adapt when disruptions occur. Over the past few years, retailers have experienced everything from port congestion to sudden policy changes, and those events exposed how difficult it can
be to pivot when production is concentrated far from the end market,” she explained.
“Retailers are now prioritizing proximity to demand, bringing production closer to key markets to reduce lead times and improve agility.
Regional sourcing networks offer a way to reduce that friction by enabling faster replenishment, better alignment with consumer demand, and reduced exposure to long-haul logistics risks. However, this isn’t a wholesale shift away from global sourcing, but it is the beginning of the rise of hybrid models.
“At TradeBeyond, we’re seeing retailers build diversified supply bases that combine global scale with regional agility. The challenge is managing that complexity, which is why having a single, connected platform to coordinate suppliers, orders, and compliance across regions is so critical.”
Brackett said nearshoring and multi-hub sourcing are direct responses to volatility, much of it outlined in the Q1 Retail Sourcing Report.
“Rather than concentrating production in a single geography, retailers are distributing it across multiple regions to reduce risk. Multi-hub models create built-in redundancy so if disruption hits one region, production can shift without significant delays,” she noted.
“Nearshoring, in particular, is gaining traction because it addresses several challenges at once by delivering both speed and risk mitigation. It reduces transit times, lowers exposure to global shipping disruptions, and can simplify compliance with regional trade agreements.
“However, these models introduce operational complexity. Retailers now need to manage more suppliers, more regions, and more variables simultaneously. That’s where TradeBeyond plays a key role, helping brands orchestrate multi-hub strategies by centralizing supplier management, streamlining onboarding, and ensuring consistent compliance and quality across every region.”
As sourcing strategies become more distributed and dynamic, visibility becomes foundational. Many retailers are still operating with fragmented systems, where supplier data, product information, and order details live in separate places, added Brackett.
“That makes it difficult to get a clear, real-time view of what’s happening across the supply chain, especially beyond tier-one suppliers.”
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