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.
A little over a month after major Korean freighter line Hanjin shut down due to financial issues, the effects are still being felt by retailers in terms of shipment delays from Asia. But it remains unclear what impact it will have on the peak holiday season starting on Cyber Weekend. See how the crisis affected shipments by Ascena Retail Group.
Omnichannel has become a standard practice in retail, but how well are companies achieving inventory visibility across channels that is so critical to its success?
In this infographic from Stitch Labs, see where the gaps are between omnichannel vision and reality, and what steps can be taken to see improvements.
Jason Goldberger, who had just been promoted to chief digital officer by Target in May, has suddenly left the company in the wake of disappointing ecommerce growth figures in recent quarters. The news is seen in the context of Target’s competition against market leader Amazon by many industry observers.
The recently announced rate changes from FedEx reflect both the continual cat-and-mouse game with main rival UPS, as well as a bigger hit on ecommerce shippers as carriers look to recover the higher cost of moving more and more online orders. See what analysts and experts have to say about the impact of the new rates.
The Multichannel Merchant team is getting geared up and excited about the sixth annual Operations Summit 2017, which will be held in Pittsburgh, PA March 27-29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Put it in your calendar now to make sure you and your team don’t miss the only event exclusively about direct-to-customer and omnichannel operations.
UPS plans to hire 95,000 seasonal workers, primarily package handlers, drivers and driver helpers, as major retails announce their retail peak season plans. See what a major outplacement firm says about hiring trends
Metrics to track and manage distribution center performance need to be meaningful, actionable and objective in order to impact performance and the business, attendees were told at Parcel Forum 2016. See what the head of direct-to-customer operations at Boot Barn had to say about how DC metrics support overall business goals.
Google has expanded its two-day Google Express delivery service to 40 million new customers in the Midwest, now offering it in 17 states in its push against the dominance of Amazon Prime. See where it has grown and what retailers are using it.
Oracle has acquired LogFire, which provides a cloud-based system integrating warehouse, inventory and workforce management. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This comes on the heels of Oracle’s major $9.3 billion acquisition of Netsuite in August, as it continues to aggressively push into cloud-based supply chain management and logistics.
What are the main decision criteria when acquiring a warehouse technology system? Whether you have an existing system or are adding one for the first time, there are a whole host of factors that have to be taken into consideration. This special report from Multichannel Merchant will help guide your through the process.