Articles
E-commerce
No Light at End of Retail Tunnel
The decline of physical retail stores isn’t expected to slow down any time soon, finds a Coresight Research report. U.S. retailers have announced 2,187 closings to date in 2019, including 749 Gymboree stores, 251 Shopko stores, and 94 Charlotte Russe locations. Payless ShoeSource also is reported to be considering its second bankruptcy. Online retail growth, […]
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Getting Up on the Right Side of the Bedding
Direct-to-consumer bedding e-retailer Buffy Inc. woke up in a logistics world where quick-turn, no-hassle deliveries and returns have become routine.
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Super-sizing E-commerce Deliveries
Companies that manufacture, sell, and deliver an increasing number of e-commerce oversize goods face a unique set of challenges when delivering to homes. Delivery teams not only need access to home interiors for set-up, they must also communicate in real-time with recipients so they’re home when orders are delivered. What’s more, they need far more customer service skills than the typical delivery driver.
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Jennifer Daniel: Mastering the Art of Logistics
Jennifer Daniel is head of global logistics for Redbubble, an online marketplace that connects independent graphic design, fine art, and photography artists with customers. Responsibilities Oversees all inbound and outbound shipping from 32 locations around the world. Experience Senior logistics manager, Redbubble; transportation operations and analytics manager, customs compliance manager, Restoration Hardware; foreign freight and […]
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Minimize Returns While Improving Sales
The popularity of free shipping has led to a growth of online sales. It has also created a problem: a large number of online returns. The shipping world defines the returns process as reverse logistics. Minimizing costs and even making a profit in reverse logistics is critical to an e-commerce company’s health. Here are some […]
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When Worlds Collide
In retail there are two worlds or approaches: online and traditional. It appears the online retailers have been winning in the market with all types of consumers, even in manufacturing and industrial products. But don’t count the traditional retail world out yet. Good supply chain management practices, along with blended approaches to serving the customer, […]
Read MoreA New Argument for Pool Distribution as More Specialty E-Retailers Set Up Shop
As consumer demand intensifies and changing shopping behaviors put pressure on the industry to adapt, retailers have continued to redesign their networks to keep up. When distributing high-volume retail goods, determining the right model is key. So what’s the quickest and most cost-effective way to keep fast-turning retail products moving from DC to store shelf? […]
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Today’s Technology, Tomorrow’s Demand
The late actress Carrie Fisher said, “instant gratification takes too long.” Her prescience is spot-on. Consumers don’t just want convenient, personalized products and services—they want them immediately. Speed and flexibility are the most significant aspects of meeting this heightened sense of “must have it now.” Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are in a fierce race […]
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Automated EDI Brings Benefits as Far as Eyebobs Can See
A direct, automated EDI connection between its ERP system and retail partners gives eyebobs 20/20 visibility to its omnichannel orders.
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Maximizing Global E-Commerce Profits
With 7 billion prospective customers out there, how can e-commerce companies not grow wealthy by expanding internationally? But, as with most things in business, international e-commerce is not as simple as it sounds. It takes work, planning, and investment, but the profit potential is very real. When branching out internationally, you’ll be able to get […]
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Disrupting the Future of Grocery Retailing
The concept of an online grocery auction is simple but the implications to the retail industry are enormous.
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The Game Has Changed—Time for a New Playbook – Transportation Insight, LLC
Evolving e-commerce service expectations force traditional retailers, manufacturers and distributors to rethink their strategies for serving clients. A two-day delivery normal—at little or no cost to the end consumer—pressures every supply chain stage, from raw material components to the finished product traveling the last yard to the customer’s hands. Retailers competing to deliver on service […]
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Solving the Three Toughest Challenges in E-commerce Fulfillment – DHL Supply Chain North America
E-commerce is continuing to create opportunity for a range of businesses, but supply chain challenges can limit growth and compromise customer relationships.
Read MoreWhen Logistics Worlds Collide: Fashion History Predicts Future of Pharma Fulfillment
Before you say anything, I’ve already heard all the jokes. You see, my experience in the pharmaceutical logistics sector began during the 1980s in the high-end fashion business. I know. There are drugs in both. Even planets millions of miles from each other may intersect their orbits at two points. And such is the relationship […]
Read MoreHow the E-commerce Warehouse Is Adapting to Life in the Big City
The goalposts in e-commerce fulfillment continue to move. Where once five-day delivery times were considered standard, now consumers routinely expect two-day or even next-day delivery. Same-day delivery is on the horizon. These shifting expectations have forced e-commerce and omni-channel retailers to expand their distribution networks. It can be difficult—and expensive—to meet even the two-day requirement […]
Read MoreAutomation Is a Game Changer for E-tailers
E-commerce is on the rise and only gaining momentum. According to a report by eMarketer Retail, in 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide reached $2.3 trillion, a 25% increase over the previous year. Besides discounts on products and the availability of tools for comparing product features and prices, what has really helped boost e-commerce, is the […]
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Not So Fast: Rethinking Multi-Item Orders
In the name of speed and satisfaction, many retailers think they’re doing the right thing by delivering products to customers as quickly as possible, shipping partial orders, but that isn’t always the case. High on the list of shopper frustrations is placing a multi-item order online only to have it arrive in multiple shipments over […]
Read MoreWhat Will Retailers Find Under The Tree?
A common theme connects several strategies retailers are using to prepare for the holiday season: Enhanced capabilities to seamlessly cater to shoppers in stores, online, and on mobile devices. CBRE’s annual Holiday Retail Trends Guide outlines four trends shaping this season as it unfolds: 1. The optimistic shopper. In a strong economic environment, retailers who […]
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Click & Collect Not Clicking Yet
Fewer than half of retailers responding to an OrderDynamics survey provide shoppers with access to basic inventory visibility. Of the 2,000+ worldwide retailers participating in Omni-2000 Research: Global, only a surprising 38.1 percent show basic inventory visibility on product pages. A strict like-for-like, year-over-year comparison finds a 30.7-percent decrease in active online inventory visibility. This […]
Read MoreWalgreens Launches Home Delivery Program for Prescriptions
Drug store chain Walgreens will now expand home deliveries for prescriptions nationwide. The company plans to partner with FedEx to deliver prescriptions as soon as the next day for a $4.99 fee, and it also is providing same-day deliveries in several cities including New York, Chicago and Dallas. The Deerfield, Ill., company started offering deliveries […]
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