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.
The recent Cyber Weekend was a boon for online mining of consumer data, with major social media players using cookies to track users’ activity across the internet, including of course ecommerce websites, often without permission, then sell the data to advertisers.
Activist investor Hestia Capital has proposed a majority slate of seven directors to replace current board members at Pitney Bowes, citing poor performance and what it termed strategic missteps over the past decade, with the company responding that Hestia is not interested in a good faith discussion.
Marvin Ellison, chairman, president and CEO of home improvement retailer Lowe’s, credited a faith in God and a worth ethic instilled by his parents that helped him achieve far beyond his humble roots, going from a part-time stocking clerk earning $4.35 an hour at Target to heading up a Fortune 500 firm.
The energy level at NRF 2023, aka the Big Show, was palpable, as large crowds swarmed the expo floors and outer halls of the Javits Center in New York, even as holiday numbers from the association itself and the government signaled concerns in the industry and the markets down the street.
With Chinese New Year starting Sunday, and manufacturing and logistics operations virtually shut down there for two weeks, experts say retail inventory levels are in a good place given recent gluts and proactive restocks, but the weeks following will bear watching and might bring issues.
While ecommerce returns continue to soar and cost retailers both in terms of actual dollars and the bad customer experience, there are practical ways to reduce the rate, make the process more efficient and leverage the customer opportunity, attendees were told at the NRF 2023 Big Show in New York.
Walmart is starting to see demand pick up for its drone delivery service, as the giant retailer has expanded to 37 store-based deployment hubs in seven states and 26 municipalities, with 6,000 deliveries in 2022, an executive told attendees at NRF’s Big Show 2023 in New York.
Shipium co-founder Jason Murray is all about replicating an Amazon-like experience for shippers, having spent 20 years there helping shape its logistics and fulfillment technology, and now uses stochastic data science and predictive modeling to deliver better SLAs and cost savings.
Drawing parallels with Amazon’s expansion of Buy With Prime to all U.S. merchants — do they each have moles in the other’s operation? — Walmart and Salesforce have linked up to provide the former’s delivery and fulfillment services to a wider swath of merchants in the latter’s app store.
FedEx Ground plans to cut back Sunday delivery from 80% U.S. coverage to 50% starting in March, as it faces lower volume and the high cost of service on a light day. The company initially cut back Ground service on Sunday to 50% coverage from 95% in August, citing a focus on “improving efficiency and reducing costs,”