Mike O'Brien

[email protected] / MikeOBmcm

Mike O’Brien has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for … well, quite a while. At Multichannel Merchant he focuses on the world of direct-to-customer operations and fulfillment, editing MCM’s weekly O+F Advisor newsletter, and programs the annual Ecommerce Operations Summit conference. Previously Mike was a senior account executive for Marx Communications, a boutique public relations firm working with marketing and advertising technology companies. Other past work includes stints as a media relations consultant for a concert promoter, a marketing communications specialist for a pharma software firm, a research analyst covering corporate e-learning and a daily newspaper reporter on every beat imaginable – except sports.

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GA4: Unraveling the New World of Google Analytics

| Mike O'Brien

The digital landscape has experienced a seismic shift with the recent sunset of Google Universal Analytics (UA) in favor of Google Analytics 4 or GA4, introduced in 2020. As of July 1, Google stopped processing data through UA, creating a forced migration. Ben Hardt, VP of business intelligence and innovation at X Agency, walks us through the changes and the impact on marketers.

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Pitney Bowes CEO Gone, Global Ecommerce Unit Likely Up for Sale

| Mike O'Brien

Bowing to pressure from investors, Pitney Bowes has replaced longtime CEO Marc Lautenbach, who is also leaving the board of directors, while a company statement on the news points to the likelihood of a pending sale of the money-losing global ecommerce unit, which investors have also called for. The board named EVP and Group President Jason Dies as interim CEO.

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UPS Capital Releases AI Tool to Combat Porch Piracy

| Mike O'Brien

UPS Capital, the financial services and insurance arm of the major carrier, has introduced an AI-powered solution to combat the scourge of porch piracy by creating a score indicating the likelihood of a package being stolen from an address, so it can be diverted to a safer pickup or delivery location. It uses AI and ML to assess billion of data points from deliveries, then creates a confidence score.

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Generative AI Data Privacy Risks Need to be Weighed, Experts Say

| Mike O'Brien

While generative AI is unquestionably a transformative technology being applied virtually everywhere, companies would do well to consider their potential for sharing sensitive personal information that could cause them to run afoul of privacy regulations both here and abroad. A cautious approach and careful attention to things like the structuring of contract agreements is advised, experts said.

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Zerobroker, Freight Broker Workaround, Raises $6.5 Million in Seed Round

| Mike O'Brien

Zerobroker, a logistics technology firm that lets shippers eliminate fees by connecting directly with carriers without using a freight broker, has raised $6.5 million in a seed round that includes participation from Flexport, Funders Club and Streamlined Ventures, among others. It was part of the 2021 cohort of startup incubator Y Combinator.

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FTC Suggests Possible Amazon Breakup in Antitrust Lawsuit

| Mike O'Brien

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed a long-expected antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, with the FTC accusing the company of monopolistic behavior on a broad scale and suggesting a breakup as one form of injunctive relief. The company used its market power to block competition, inflate prices and degrade product quality, the FTC alleges.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.