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.
FedEx surprised to the upside in Q4, its laser focus on ecommerce capabilities in recent years paying off in terms of responsiveness to massive online buying, even as service stumbles were reported in a couple states. It seemed none the worse for having parted ways with Amazon in 2019 to seek more profitable customer relationships.
The European Union is making sweeping updates to how retailers need to calculate Value-Added Tax (VAT) when selling goods into its member countries, effective July 1, 2021. Peter Boerhof, EU VAT director for Vertex, explains the various changes and their significance, and the impact for companies selling goods into Europe.
Postmates is considering either an IPO or an acquisition by Uber to augment the latter’s own Uber Eats delivery services as its core ride hailing suffers during the pandemic, according to several media reports. The fourth largest U.S. food delivery service has also received a second offer from a special purpose acquisition company.
Amazon is taking a serious run at counterfeit sellers on its marketplace, with the creation of a Counterfeit Crimes Unit that includes former federal prosecutors, investigators and data analysts. The company said it has limited counterfeit complaints to 0.1% of items listed, but legislators and media investigations have still taken it to task.
As consumer spending dwindles, retail chains struggle and bankruptcy filings mount up. Yet retail and food sales rose a record 17.7% in May, and discount chains are flourishing. How do we account for this? Brett Rose, founder and CEO of United National Consumer Suppliers, shares his thoughts in this MCM CommerceChat podcast.
Following in the footsteps of JC Penney and others, struggling rollup Ascena Retail Group said it plans to pay up to $5.5 million in retention awards and performance bonuses and undo pay cuts to top executives, as it reportedly weighs a bankruptcy filing in the face of its debt and declining sales.
Two new reports highlight how demand has bounced back in a big way for commercial warehouse space, especially for ecommerce fulfillment centers as online sales continue to mushroom, after transactions fell off during the initial COVID-19 lockdown phase in March and April.
Retail and food sales jumped a record 17.7% in May compared to April, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, a hopeful sign of a recovery from the ongoing effects of the pandemic, after tanking an adjusted 16.4% in the March-to-April period. Ecommerce posted strong gains, increasing 30% in May from the previous month.
Walmart has made another move in the never-ending ecommerce battle with market leader Amazon, through an alliance with ecommerce platform titan Shopify that gives Shopify’s 1 million-plus merchants access to Walmart’s online marketplace.
International shippers are going to face increased postal rates on July 1 as a September agreement among member countries of the 192-member Universal Postal Union (UPU) takes effect, with the U.S.’s self-declared terminal dues rates going into effect for inbound letters and small parcels.