E-Grocery: There Are No Quick Fixes

| Frank Kouretas

Opting for full third-party delivery for grocers came with many short-term advantages, allowing them to offer e-grocery solutions overnight. But this lucrative solution may not be sustainable for grocers who intend to make online an important part of their business. Owning the full omnichannel experience pays long-term dividends.

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DoorDash Powers Same-Day Delivery at J.C. Penney, Shoe Carnival

| Mike O'Brien

In a bid to grab more last-minute shoppers looking for convenience, J.C. Penney and Shoe Carnival have partnered with DoorDash to offer same-day delivery of online orders. DoorDash, Instacart, Postmates and Uber, initially growing through grocery and restaurant, have been expanding aggressively into general retail.

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Ryder Acquires Whiplash, Expands Network

| Mike O'Brien

Ryder System Inc. has significantly expanded its fulfillment network and added automation capabilities through the acquisition of 3PL Whiplash for $480 million, giving it warehouse assets in key markets and ports including Long Beach, CA, Seattle/Tacoma, New York/New Jersey and Savannah, GA.

Solving for Oversized Fulfillment in Ecommerce

| Jasmine Brown

Oversized fulfillment for ecommerce remains a black hole for many. Pickup/delivery schedules, assembly and costs all friction factors. How do you find more efficiency by reducing costs and what are the customer expectations? Retail executives discuss the issue in our inaugural Think Tank Forum, “Solving for Oversized Fulfillment.”

AWS Outage Plays Havoc, Delays Peak Deliveries

| Mike O'Brien

An hours-long outage from Amazon Web Services (AWS) caused all manner of global havoc on Tuesday, shutting down government and private websites, robotic vacuums and popular streaming services as well as idling Amazon facilities as networks and apps went dark and operations ground to a halt.

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DoorDash Promises 10-15-Minute Delivery in NYC

| Mike O'Brien

Utilizing a team of employees vs. its bread-and-butter gig workers, DoorDash is rolling out 10-15-minute delivery of 2,000 grocery and essential items in New York from a DashMart store in the Chelsea neighborhood, the company said. Main rival Instacart is also working on a 15-minute delivery service, according to reports.

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Walmart Launches Multi-Site Drone Delivery in Arkansas

| Mike O'Brien

Just in time for the holidays, Walmart on Monday went live with drone delivery from one of three stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, AR, via partner and investment recipient DroneUp, with service running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and deliveries coming in 30 minutes or less.

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Startup Via.Delivery Brings BOPIS to SMBs in the U.S.

| Mike O'Brien

Via.Delivery, a startup platform offering the power of buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) to smaller retail and ecommerce businesses, has expanded beyond its Russian roots with a launch here that features 21,000+ pickup locations at pharmacies, convenience marts and grocery stores.

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DeJoy May Be Gone Soon With New Nominations

| Mike O'Brien

President Biden is close to getting Louis DeJoy removed as Postmaster General, which would end a rocky 18-month tenure for the Trump appointee and would-be reformer who, it was frequently noted, was a major donor to the campaign of the former president and 2020 RNC finance chair.

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Georgia Tech/Ryder: Autonomous Middle Mile Drives Savings

| Mike O'Brien

A study by Georgia Tech commissioned by Ryder found a regional autonomous middle mile hub network, based on data from Ryder’s dedicated transportation network in the Southeast, could reduce costs 29% to 40%. Researchers used optimization models for routing and dispatching, comparing the model with existing operations