Mike O'Brien
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.
Freight volumes are continuing to impact the economics of logistics, with two closely-watched indices showing contraction in the market as demand for goods remain challenged ahead of Q4 restocking. Average daily spot rates from China/East Asia to the West Coast were $1,324 per 40-foot container on June 7, down from $14,000 a year ago, while the Logistics Managers Index is in contraction territory.
DHL eCommerce Solutions, addressing growing demand for its USPS consolidator business, has transferred operations from St. Louis to Kansas City, MO, as part of a national expansion plan. By the time the $330 million project is completed in mid-2024, DHL eCommerce will have a 19-node, 2.3 million-square-foot U.S. network.
West coast ports from Los Angeles to Seattle faced slowdowns on Monday, a continuation of job actions by dockworkers that began Thursday, leaving goods stranded and flows disrupted, as the union and the port owners continue to wrangle over renewing a contract that expired in July.
The INFORM Act goes into effect June 27, to help stem the tide of counterfeit goods on ecommerce marketplaces. The FTC can impose fines and injunctions against marketplace operators that don’t provide information on high-volume sellers. Alexandra Megaris of Venable LLP helps us gain a better understanding of its ramifications.
Talk of consolidation in the overcrowded Amazon aggregator space has come to fruition, as Berlin-based SellerX is acquiring Elevate Brands of Austin, giving the new company a combined portfolio of 80 Amazon brands, 40,000 products and a $431 million run rate. It was the second such deal after Suma and D1 Brands tied up in late May.
The California assembly voted in favor of a bill to ban driverless autonomous trucks, which now goes on to the state senate and then to the governor. It seeks a pause that would require a human onboard for at least five years while safety data is compiled, according to The Los Angeles Times and other media.
Just under a quarter of monthly Amazon Prime subscribers (23%) dropped the service for some period of time in the past year, with 41% having it for six months or less, most likely dipping in and out as their needs or checkbook dictate, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) data.
UK startup Streetify hopes to gain traction with a two-year-old app that creates virtual versions of physical streets and stores, where retailers and brands can display offers, discounts and links, and hopefully drive traffic to physical stores as well. The company says there are 1 billion stores in virtual form, compared to 4.4 million sites for Shopify.
Not unlike Walmart, Qurate Retail Group has divested Zulily to focus on its core business. The once popular flash sale site, targeting young mothers with deals across brands and categories including apparel, home and garden and toys, was sold to Los Angeles-based investment firm Regent. It was purchased in 2013 for $2.4 billion.
Generative AI, better known by the OpenAI version called ChatGPT in Microsoft’s Bing search engine, is suddenly everywhere all at once, shaking up whole industries and offering to optimize pretty much every single business function and solve all your problems. But what’s it all about? Join our webinar on June 8 to find out.