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 USPS plans to update its environmental impact statement related to the mix of electric vs. gas-powered vehicles, saying it’s driven by its delivery network improvement plan and unrelated to lawsuits favoring an all-electric fleet. The mix may change due to aggregation of carrier operations affecting its delivery route structure.
Walmart plans to open up four high-tech, automated fulfillment centers over the next three years, which when completed will enable it to reach 95% of the country in the Amazon Prime standard of two days or less, while streamlining fulfillment processes and increasing throughput. The news drops between a Q1 miss and Prime Day.
A China import law taking effect June 21 that bans imports from the Xinjiang region due to allegations of widespread forced labor will worsen supply chain and inventory issues just as conditions are easing somewhat, while exacerbating rampant inflation, according to a report in Bloomberg.
UPS has acquired Texas-based startup Delivery Solutions, a platform that offers multi-carrier, same-day delivery services with an impressive client roster across categories that includes nameplates like Abercrombie & Fitch, Giant Eagle, Office Depot and Sephora. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ecommerce sales will top $1 trillion for the first time this year, while Amazon will become the biggest retailer in the U.S. by 2026, surpassing Walmart with a 14.9% market share vs. 12.7%, according to a new report from Edge By Ascential. Costco and Home Depot will hold the number 3 and 4 spots, respectively, the report states.
The strategy behind inventory management in ecommerce and retail, difficult in the best of times, has gotten even trickier as inflation continues to dog the economy in the latter stages of Q2, supply chain issues linger and costs rise. Until the bigger picture begins to brighten, finding every avenue of cost savings is the order of the day.
Fears of inflation eating away at household incomes continues to run ahead of COVID-19 concerns, according to a May trend report from 84.51˚, the consumer data and analytics arm of Kroger. These concerns are also causing more consumers to want BNPL to expand beyond products to services, according to a Harris poll.
While scarcity has always been a tool used to drive desirability and prestige, inflation and supply chain issues have been changing consumers’ relationship to it. In this MCM CommerceChat podcast, Katie Thomas of the Kearney Consumer Institute, explains the changing nature of scarcity, and how to watch for the scarcity tipping point.
FedEx is expanding its pilot program with Aurora Innovation, creating a new autonomous linehaul route between Aurora’s terminals in Fort Worth and El Paso, TX, making the 1,200-mile round trips weekly with a monitoring driver on board. The two companies began the runs in March, adding to another between Houston and Dallas.
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy outlined plans to streamline facilities and delivery networks to make them more efficient by significantly reducing the number of processing plants and delivery units, eliminating redundancies in an effort to improve performance.