Having experienced significant pain in Q4 2020, when millions of orders showed up late, many retailers have stepped up their preparation efforts to ensure holiday shipping 2021 isn’t a case of deja vu. In this report, industry experts and retailers discuss network and supply chain challenges, preparation efforts and mitigation strategies.
Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021 is back live, at the Gaylord Opreyland in Nashville on Aug. 17-18, and the team at Multichannel Merchant has a great event on tap to help operations and fulfillment professionals keep on top of key industry trends and address the challenges of a disruptive time. Read on for some program highlights.
American Eagle Outfitters has expanded its offering of free same-day delivery for members of partner ShopRunner to include 50 U.S. cities, up from six when the retailer started working with the FedEx acquired service in October. During the past year, American Eagle and Aerie have offered free store and curbside pickup.
FarEye, maker of a delivery management platform that gives shoppers delivery windows as short as an hour, has raised $100 million in a new round. The company plans to further its platform capabilities and expand in Europe and North America. Customers include Dominoes, Walmart, DHL eCommerce, Finland Post and Singapore Post.
Seven years after its launch, Amazon plans to discontinue the Prime Now app for fast delivery of grocery and other goods, folding it into its main Amazon app and website by the end of 2021, the company said. Amazon said the same level of same-day delivery service, in many cases two hours, will continue for Prime members.
Amazon is expanding its Amazon Key program, which lets its delivery drivers access a Prime customer’s garage to drop off orders, to more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, wherever its grocery delivery services are available from Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market. The program, free to Prime members, was first tested three years ago.
The founders DynoSafe, maker of a patented refrigerated smart safe for home grocery delivery to the porch won a deal on “Shark Tank,” with shark Robert Herjavec taking a 25% stake in the company for $150,000, with Mark Cuban also on the board. The husband-and-wife team are looking for deals themselves with major grocery chains.
Target, one of the clear retail winners in the pandemic era, posted another impressive quarter, with Q4 revenue, earnings and comparable sales outpacing projections and its omnichannel strategy firing on all cylinders as it reported a $9 billion gain in market share based on internal and market research.
Coming after a year of economic contraction and retail disruption, the 2020 peak holiday season threatened to be brutal on retailers. While some retailers had exceptional results, operational challenges limited opportunities. See what a recent study revealed about the impact of pre-peak investments on reducing capability gaps.
Omnichannel operations are the future of brick-and-mortar and DTC retail.
