Explanation:

A demand-driven supply chain detects customer demand signals and relays those replenishment demand signals to retailer and supplier in real time, so the demand can be acted upon immediately. This is almost the polar opposite of a traditional supply chain, where the supplier announces product availability, the retailer takes delivery, and, hopefully, the product hits the shelves more or less when the customer wants it.

Clearly, the demand-driven strategy is superior, taking its signals from the customers rather than the suppliers. As Rob Garf and Michael Barrett write in the AMR Research Alert article "Demand-Driven Retailing Is About More Than Retailers," "(demand-driven) realistically identifies and responds to consumer needs and wants by balancing supply and demand." To achieve this, retailers must completely rethink the supply chain. Instead of a push system, the supply chain becomes a pull system. The retailer no longer tailors replenishment to best meet the constraints and capacity of the suppliers, but to best meet the demand of the customer.