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.
Just in time for the busy holiday season, FedEx announced it now has pickup locations at 7,500 Walgreens stores across the U.S., shy of the 8,000 it promised to have online by the end of October when the deal was announced in January.
Fearing possible encroachment from Amazon into prescription delivery, CVS will begin offering next-day delivery of both prescriptions and other retail items in major cities in 2018, and same-day service in Manhattan beginning Dec. 4.
Gap Inc. is adding a new wrinkle to the customer experience this holiday season with a tool that allows recipients to customize their gift from Banana Republic or Athleta and have it sent to their home, or opt for another gift entirely.
Just ahead of the holidays, the U.S. Postal Service is testing a new program that offers major retailers Sunday delivery for orders placed on Saturday, a service mostly involving Amazon shipments until now.
Following a similar move by Target, Best Buy is offering free shipping on most orders between now and Christmas, waiving its standard $35 minimum order threshold.
With an estimated $3 billion left on the table each year in unclaimed refunds from major carriers for errors such as late or wrong deliveries, a software company has figured out how to automate the claims process and win some of that money back for its shipper clients.
Right on the heels of Walmart’s September announcement of an in-home grocery delivery service being tested in New York City, Amazon has come out with its own offering allowing drivers to enter homes and drop off items under the watchful eye of a new Amazon smart connected camera – all tied to Alexa.
Small business owners will find it easier to send orders to overseas customers in 220 countries within 2-5 business days through a new integration partnership between SMB ecommerce platform company Shopify and global carrier DHL.
FedEx announced it has acquired inventory management provider Northwest Research, adding technology to help with its ecommerce fulfillment capabilities. The companies said Northwest will provide “new approaches to inventory management issues, including specialized research to maximize successful outcomes for challenging shipments.”
Jeff Bezos and the innovation teams at Amazon seem to have cornered the market on far-out ideas that push the envelope for ecommerce distribution, from delivery drones to blimp warehouses to even an undersea DC. That is, until Elon Musk and his hardy band of rocketeers at SpaceX came along and shot the moon – or Mars.