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.
Amazon is telling 3P sellers they can’t use FedEx Ground for Prime deliveries this holiday season, citing performance issues, according to the Wall Street Journal, saying the policy will remain until there are improvements. UPS and other carriers stand to benefit in the short term if they can find room in their networks.
Le Tote plans to modernize Lord & Taylor’s assets, including integration with Le Tote’s rental business to drive upselling. Retail industry veteran Robert Escobar has signed on to help Le Tote create a roadmap for a supply chain makeover to meet its business objectives. Find out more in this MCM CommerceChat podcast interview.
Walmart is testing autonomous grocery delivery in Houston with robotics partner Nuro to a select group of shoppers that opt into the pilot program, the company announced. The test will involve Nuro’s R2 robotic vehicle as well as some autonomous Toyota Priuses, also powered by Nuro’s technology.
JOANN Stores, a specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics, has seen better and faster issue resolution by upgrading its customer care platform. Hear how JOANN was able to improve its customer care metrics, including reducing ticket backlog and speeding up response times, and boost its NPS scores, in this MCM CommerceChat podcast.
Ohi, a startup looking to democratize same-day delivery for smaller direct-to-customer brands with analytics and micro fulfillment centers in unused commercial spaces, has raised $2.75 million in a seed funding round led by Flybridge Capital Partners. Its first MFCs are in Manhattan, Brooklyn and LA, with more to come in SF and DC.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office is considering adding Amazon sites in the UK, Canada, Germany, India and France to the Notorious Markets list due to alleged growth in sale of counterfeit goods, based on a request from an apparel trade group, according to WSJ. Chinese marketplaces Taobao and Pinduoduo are on the 2019 list.
Cloud-based CRM platform startup Kustomer has raised $60 million in a round led by Coatue with participation from current investors Tiger Global Management and Battery Ventures, bringing its total haul to $173.5 million as it pursues titans Zendesk and Salesforce. The company plans to build out R&D and open its first European office.
It’s hard to think of an apparel category that’s more competitive than jeans, with many legacy and upstart brands vying for casual fashion dollars. In this MCM CommerceChat podcast, Revtown co-founder Henry Stafford talks about the company’s disruptive approach, recent partnership moves, DTC roots and where it’s headed.
Even with a shorter season and earlier deals, Black Friday is still a mammoth shopping phenomenon, with a record $7.4 billion in ecommerce sales this year, according to data from Adobe Analytics. It was the second largest online sales day ever in the U.S., after Cyber Monday 2018, at $7.9 billion.
Fourteen months after introducing same-day grocery delivery in New York, Walmart has shut down fresh grocery delivery through Jet.com as the operation had stumbled badly, according to Bloomberg, including price increases to offset an estimated $20 loss per delivery. Jet will continue to delivery non-perishable items in New York.