Tag: operations

January 27, 2022

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the blog of Oliver Guy, Senior Director, Industry Solutions, Software AG. Retailers in 2022 will need to prove their sustainability commitments and establish their […]

November 23, 2021

U.S. retailers have experienced a rash of highly orchestrated and alarming smash-and-grab thefts recently, notably in California’s Bay Area and Chicago. Around 80 looters flooded a Nordstrom location in Walnut Creek, CA, on Saturday, stealing armfuls of merchandise and attacking […]

October 29, 2021

According to a recent Pitney Bowes BOXpoll survey, 54 percent of U.S. consumers believe grocery delivery within an hour is important to them, well above other categories. That’s good news for the wide range of “ultra-fast” or “rapid” delivery upstarts […]

October 20, 2021

The lure of high valuation, standalone digital businesses is leading some retailers in a new strategic direction. While most sales come through stores, online is accelerating because of shopping trends begun at the onset of the pandemic. The challenges of […]

October 12, 2021

Office Depot has raised its own bar for curbside delivery with the launch of a “20 Minute Pickup Promise.” When the retailer is unable to make good on in-store and curbside pickup within 20 minutes, it will send the customer […]

October 5, 2021

Daniel Silva remembers being an intern at Amazon in the summer of 2014, months after founder Jeff Bezos unveiled the company’s plans for drone delivery service via Amazon Prime Air. “At the time, it seemed like we were going to […]

October 4, 2021

Before gifts can make it under holiday trees this year, they are going to have to pass through one of the largest-scale traffic jams modern supply chains have ever experienced. In the U.S., the industry is not fretting over customer […]

September 17, 2021

At the height of the COVID pandemic, retail profitability took a back seat to meeting customer demand by whatever means necessary. Retailers had to quickly expand omnichannel operations, often without concern for efficiency, to meet the simple goal of getting […]

September 13, 2021

The Roadie acquisition will expand UPS into same-day delivery and give shippers another speedy way to move goods to their customers. During an investor day presentation in June, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said the company was looking into ways to […]

August 25, 2021

Consumer demand and retail sales are up, way up, after 2020’s many crucibles. While the delta variant of COVID-19 has thrown a shadow over the recovery, customers have been refreshing wardrobes, spending stimulus checks and going shopping. If only the […]

August 17, 2021

FedEx is pushing current surcharges, focused on Express and Ground home delivery services, to higher levels during peak season as shippers fight for limited space in parcel carriers’ networks. The additional handling and oversized surcharges will rise from $3.50 to […]

August 17, 2021

It’s all part of the plan. That’s the assurance that executives at major retail REITs gave in recent weeks about the higher levels of uncertainty to be found in their leasing agreements and tenant mixes these days. With lockdowns a […]

August 6, 2021

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said last week during a media briefing that the large numbers of people walking around unvaccinated against COVID-19 not only make it more likely that […]

August 2, 2021

PayPal is aggressively adding new features for merchants, like in-store services, to shore up profits as its historic online marketplace partner, eBay, breaks away from the tie. PayPal has known for years that eBay planned to break away, and now […]

July 6, 2021

After a year of temporary closures, rapid and extreme shifts in product demand, and tidal shifts to more digital and omnichannel shopping, retailers had to decide, learn and execute more quickly than ever before. All of that put stress on […]

June 7, 2021

Walmart will give more than 740,000 of its associates free Samsung smartphones this year to support the launch of a work app that is described as “a single source for improved employee engagement and customer care.” The Me@Walmart app, built […]

June 3, 2021

No matter how you slice it, retail revolves around the consumer — and that makes the consumer your north star as a retail professional. But following that north star takes work; you have to actively make decisions to keep your […]

May 25, 2021

FedEx’s network has been dealing with elevated volume over the last year that has resulted in a series of surcharges meant to aid in capacity management. But it all comes at a cost for companies shipping with FedEx. Trevor Outman, […]

May 12, 2021

Last year was a challenge like no other for the retail industry. COVID-19 upended people’s existence worldwide, threatening human life and undermining the global economy. Job and wage losses took a toll. Even those able to stay healthy and financially […]

May 10, 2021

CIOs have been the orchestrators of key technology projects undertaken in response to the pandemic, putting them at the center of initiatives that have reshaped their organizations for an online-heavy environment. Many retailers “were literally asking every day, ‘How are […]