Lore Continues to Shake Up Walmart Ecommerce
Jet.com founder and CEO Marc Lore continues to shake up Walmart’s ecommerce operation as it continues to pursue Amazon, including hundreds of layoffs and several executive moves.
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.
Retailers Continue Omnichannel Pivot as Stores Struggle
Major retailers including Macy’s, JC Penney and Nordstrom are placing larger bets on omnichannel as the future of retail, amid hundreds of store closings and even a chain shuttering in the wake of a tough holiday season for brick-and-mortar sales. See what moves the chains are making to counter Amazon’s incursions.
USPS Pulling Operations Out of Staples
Three years after it had begun, the U.S. Postal Service is ending its relationship with office supply chain Staples, pulling its beleaguered Staples-staffed service centers out of the stores by early March amid labor pressure and a labor board ruling upholding an earlier court order.
Tompkins Launches Ecommerce Fulfillment Alliance
After years in the supply chain consulting business, Tompkins International is launching the MonarchFx Alliance, a consortium of technology and service providers it says will eventually provide more efficient, faster ecommerce fulfillment across sectors including apparel, furniture and appliances, cross-border, cold storage and stores. See what else the alliance has in store, and who has partnered with it.
Third-Party Sellers on Amazon Saw 2016 Boom
Amazon shipped over 2 billion items worldwide in 2016 for third-party sellers on its marketplace using its fulfillment services – more than double the figure from 2015. See what other milestones the company achieved in 2016 and during the holiday season.
Sears Holdings Sells Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker
Ending years of speculation, Sears Holdings will sell its popular Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker for an estimated $900 million. It is also closing 108 Kmart and 42 Sears locations, while getting $150 million in loan guarantees from its CEO. So what’s in store for its other popular brand – Kenmore appliances – as the retail business continues to decline rapidly?
Retailers Achieve 97% Holiday Order Fulfillment
A Kurt Salmon study found 97% of retailers delivered orders on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas, up from 95% in 2015 and 87% in 2014. This was partly due to pulling the cutoffs back by a day in many cases, and changing up website messaging at the deadline. See what else the study found, including the performance of luxury brands.
Amazon Wins Patent for Flying FC, Blows Out Holidays
It’s never a dull moment with Amazon, which won a patent for an airborne FC, sold 1 billion items the last two months and created another shopping holiday. Find out more about these latest developments from the ecommerce behemoth.
An Omnichannel Mixed Bag, Delivered in a Box
As someone who lives, eats, sleeps and often writes about omnichannel, it’s always interesting to be a participant in the “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” dynamic. See how Bob’s Stores got my experience exactly right, but fell down in terms of fulfillment efficiency.
NRF Confident of Hitting or Passing 3.6% Holiday Sales Growth
The NRF says its prediction of 3.6% holiday sales growth will hold up, given a good economy and pent-up demand. See what else transpired at season’s end, as retailers pulled out all the stops to bring in the procrastinators.