O+F Advisor 10/12/23

| David Hurwitz

Estimates show ecommerce growth of about 10% a year. Thus, more fulfillment executives are installing goods-to-person technology. Our new special report covers the different systems, how major retailers are using … Continue Reading →

Boxbot Raises Funds to Automate Last-Mile Parcel Sortation

| Mike O'Brien

Boxbot, a startup that pivoted from autonomous vehicle technology to automated parcel storage and retrieval for last-mile delivery applications, announced a $12 million Series A round that will help the company deploy its “three-dimensional conveyor belt” that handles sequenced sortation.

Simon Property Group Expands Dropit Partnership

| Mike O'Brien

Simon Property Group has expanded a partnership with retail technology provider Dropit to offer its tenants the ability to optimize functions like ship from store, inventory management and returns, powered by AI, initially at 60 Simon locations. Dropit’s technology sits on top of a company’s OMS, WMS and inventory management systems, augmenting order sourcing, fulfillment, delivery and returns.

Roadie Expanding Direct-From-Warehouse Delivery Service

| Mike O'Brien

Roadie, a crowdsourced last-mile delivery platform that is owned by UPS, is expanding availability of an app that allows same-day delivery and pickup of ecommerce orders by Roadie drivers from warehouses to local customers, which was launched a year ago by sports apparel retailer Fanatics. The app enables pre-sortation and staging of local orders in a designated area within a facility.

Warp Looks to Marry LTL with the Gig Economy

| Mike O'Brien

Less-than-truckload platform provide Warp is looking to “gigify” LTL, much as the last mile space has been for the past several years, by letting shippers choose among various types of delivery providers, enabling faster service than waiting for a combined load with traditional carriers. The service, called gLTL, leverages Warp’s load-matching technology.

Hits of the Week 9-22-23

| David Hurwitz

ICYMI: Stitch Fix, the algorithm-driven, stylist-focused purveyor of subscription apparel, saw revenue drop 21% and a 13% decline in active clients, but new CEO Matt Baer, a former Macy’s executive, … Continue Reading →