Articles
E-commerce
E-Commerce DC Site Selection: Connecting the Dots
Online and omni-channel retailers set their sites on distribution network optimization, picking fulfillment locations that suit shifting consumer demand.
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Cosmetics Logistics: The Beauty of an Optimized Supply Chain
Makeup and skin care companies follow a multi-step logistics routine to manage retailer requirements and smooth the wrinkles caused by supply and demand friction.
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Same Day Delivery: The Amazing Race
The same-day delivery race puts crowdsourcing, bicycles, and delivery vans on the same team.
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Setting the E-Commerce Gold Standard
As chief supply chain officer for flash sales superstar Gilt, Chris Halkyard’s bright idea to optimize the company’s DC network helped spark supply chain efficiency gains.
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DSW Tries On New SKUs and Stocks
Shoe retailer DSW pairs a new replenishment system with an automated materials handling solution to step up inventory control.
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Minimizing the Financial Impact of Peak Season Returns
As the supply chain world settles in for a long winter’s nap, the reverse logistics world is shifting into overdrive to handle peak returns season. Both retailers and manufacturers report that the percent of returns for 2014 is roughly the same as it was by this point in 2013. The rate of returns for holiday […]
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Customer Service: Delivering the Royal Treatment
As evolving retail models push consumer expectations to the extreme, companies explore new ways to show customers they rule.
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Visions of Customer Service
Tighter links are being forged between customer service and logistics in the retail supply chain. As competition between traditional and online shopping choices heats up, expedited transportation offerings and blended supply chain networks play a pivotal role. Simply put, delivery speed and logistics agility provide the customer service levels needed to win. The main advantage […]
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The Five New Rules of E-commerce and the Path to Successful B2B Online Sales
Does business-to-business e-commerce figure prominently in your organization’s strategic plans? If not, you are missing a key inflection point emerging in the market today. Industry analyst firm Forrester estimates the B2B e-commerce market is expected to reach $559 billion by the end of 2013. This significant opportunity has been recognized by Internet heavyweights Amazon and […]
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E-Fulfillment Strategies That Deliver the Goods
By adding speed and visibility to their logistics operations, retailers delight online customers, and keep them coming back for more.
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8 Ways to Strengthen Online Retailer Supply Chains
Most online retailers are well aware that effective supply chain execution is the strategic heart of their business. Here are eight ways to keep online retail supply chains running smoothly and cost-effectively. 1. Invest in people. Make sure your supply chain managers have adequate experience and knowledge. The right skill set can’t be learned on […]
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e-Commerce: Finding the Sweet Spot
Online retailers seeking new DC and warehouse sites need transportation infrastructure and other resources to support a constant, rapid-fire flow of shipments.
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Improved Warehouse Operations: Cause to Celebrate
Party goods supplier Oriental Trading Company revamps its warehouse technology to keep pace with online sales.
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Surveying the Home Delivery Landscape
Shortly after Claude Ryan and Jim Casey began delivering telegram messages in 1907, they seized on the idea to solve a business problem between department stores and the growing urban population in Seattle: managing home delivery of store-bought products. These new urbanites mostly walked or used streetcars, with only a few owning early automobiles. Safely […]
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Maximizing Productivity in E-commerce Warehousing and Distribution Operations
As e-commerce continues its rapid growth into virtually every market sector, retailers are anxious to expand their presence online to capture this market share. Between 2006 and 2010, global online retail sales grew by 16.3 percent annually, according to Global Online Retail 2011, published by Datamonitor. Online retail sales for 2010 alone showed an annual […]
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Retailers Rebalance Time vs. Cost?
For retailers and their value chain partners, practicing inbound logistics provides two competitive advantages—the ability to keep prices low, because matching demand to supply optimizes inventory-to-sales ratios and creates other economies; and the agility to use time as a competitive advantage by serving customers faster and more completely. In the past, retailers emphasized keeping costs […]
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Sorting Out Savings Opportunities in Your E-Commerce Warehouse
The continuing growth of e-commerce has created challenges for distribution centers (DCs). Parcels are smaller, lighter, and harder to handle on the same conveyors and sorters. And shipping and logistics firms have amped up the pressure, adding dimensional charges as a penalty to those that ship lightweight goods. But from the shipper’s perspective, the less […]
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Holiday Stocking: Preparing for the Seasonal Retail Rush
Smart planning throughout the year helps retailers strike the right balance for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond.
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You Are Everywhere: Mapping the New Retail Supply Chain
Gone are the days of single-channel apparel retailing—and supply chains servicing that model. Today, apparel retailers must optimize their supply chains to deliver products from any point where consumers want to buy them.
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