Articles

Retail

Prepping Your DC for Peak Season

Are you ready for the holidays? Today’s retailers and their logistics partners need to ask and answer that question well in advance of the holiday season. Mark Sibley, vice president of customer support for BEUMER Corporation, offers this advice to prepare your distribution center before holiday orders come rolling in. 1. Start early. Don’t start […]

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Brian Bourke

Global Retail Expansion: The Convergence of Marketing, Customer Service, and Supply Chain Strategies

As the global market becomes ever more connected, more and more retailers are struggling to keep up with their international expansion. Brands who never anticipated going global are finding that they all of a sudden are, thanks to the progression of e-commerce and increasing customer expectations. Wisely, this is where many are seeking assistance, and […]

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Ryan Kelly

Balancing Inventory for a Better Customer Experience

Q: How is e-commerce impacting inventory management for retailers? A: Inventory is a costly investment for retailers. With the growth of e-commerce, retailers have identified a potential opportunity to reduce working capital by thinning inventory at brick-and-mortar stores—opting instead to maintain major portions of inventory at distribution centers upstream. By adopting this strategy, retailers are […]

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Jerry Levy (pictured) and Gary Barker

How to Be Fashionably Green

The retail industry’s tectonic shift toward sustainability is real, with a renewed focus on clothing made from raw, organic materials, and nontoxic dyes or bleaches, with low water usage, and produced under socially responsible conditions. Yet this shift is only part of the story of how the retail and fashion industry is becoming greener. Other […]

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Ryan Kelly

Optimizing Inbound for Improved E-Commerce Fulfillment

E-commerce is changing warehousing. Consumers want to purchase merchandise at any time, from anywhere—whether it is online, mobile, or in a store. As a result, efficient and reliable omni-channel fulfillment has become an imperative for retailers. To better align business models with the new paradigm, retailers and logistics providers are augmenting their distribution networks to […]

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Rob Kriewaldt

Become an Extension of Your Client’s Brand

As entities responsible for brokering appropriate carrier rates, ensuring accurate quantities of orders, and guaranteeing high quality of products, third-party logistics providers are extensions of companies’ brands. The functions 3PLs perform help shape their clients’ outwardly facing reputation. Here are the most effective ways to become an extension of your client’s brand. Cost Savings Carrier […]

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Roger Marks

Retailers Get Help With New DOT “Reverse Logistics” Rules

The U.S. Department of Transportation has finalized new shipping requirements aimed at retail stores that return hazmat products to a supplier or manufacturer for a refund. Because the hazmat products found in retail stores typically pose little risk to the public in small amounts, U.S. DOT has created a streamlined, simplified version of the hazmat […]

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