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 disgruntled group of FedEx Ground contractors are blaming the company for losses this past peak season due to investments in leased vehicles and temporary staff for a massive holiday deluge that never materialized, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. More than 800 of FedEx Ground’s 5,000+ contractor firms signed onto the letter.
Embattled retailer Kohl’s has engaged with 20+ solicited and unsolicited potential acquirers in the past couple months, through its advisor Goldman Sachs, with some being given access to a data room and management and invited to submit offers, the company said in an SEC filing. Last month it rejected two takeover bids.
Shippo, a provider of shipping software, has created an API integration with major ecommerce platform company Shopify, making its tools natively available to millions of Shopify merchants, a process that is being accelerated by a major investment from Shopify. Much of the initial focus is on expanding in European markets.
Sephora continues to expand same-day delivery to customers’ doors, providing service in as little as an hour thanks to a new partnership with delivery service Shipt, which is owned by Target. The major beauty retailer already has a same-day delivery partnership with Instacart, on top of its own Beauty on Demand service.
Narvar is letting retailers offer customers the convenience of home pickup of returns within one to 10 days for a convenience fee, a service that was piloted at 70 companies in Q4. The home pickup service is currently offered in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, with plans to expand to about 100 more markets.
Amazon continues to expand its ecommerce service offerings through acquisition, the latest example being Veeqo, a UK-based startup that provides inventory and order fulfillment tools for sellers on a variety of platforms including Shopify and eBay in addition to Amazon. The deal closed in November but was just revealed.
Bed Bath & Beyond is being urged by activist investor and co-founder of Chewy.com Ryan Cohen to revamp its strategy and explore various strategic alternatives, including spinning off the Buybuy Baby chain or selling the entire company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Peel-off stacks, dedicated piles of 50 containers or more, are a great port congestion solution if you’re a mega shipper like Walmart, but less so if you’re an SMB. But now smaller players can have freight consolidated to create peel-off stacks. Bryn Heimbeck of Trade Tech talks about a pilot project at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.
Amazon revealed its plans to close all 68 of its bookstores, pop-ups and shops selling items like toys and home goods in the United States and the United Kingdom, the retail and ecommerce giant told Reuters, to concentrate more on its grocery business and a coming department store concept.
RightHand Robotics, founded by Leif Jentoft and CEO Yaro Tenzer in 2015, has secured a $66 million funding round to fuel growth of its partner network, hire engineers and expand its global presence. Much of the hiring focus is on improving the AI and machine learning that fuels RightHand’s technology and the arm’s functionality.