We’ve opened up the submission period for Multichannel Merchant’s annual Top 3PL directory. This is your chance to show off your chops and differentiators to more than 74,000 MCM readers in ecommerce and retail. It’s the industry’s go-to resource for this rapidly evolving market, so don’t miss your opportunity to be represented.
Inventory management has been anything but simple these days. A global pandemic, labor shortages and product recalls have led to the “bullwhip effect.” Success will require leveraging technology to make critical business decisions, using AI/ML and what-if analysis to create a dynamic, flexible, resilient inventory management strategy.
Following in the footsteps of American Eagle Outfitters, Gap has launched its own fulfillment services platform, making the high-tech, automated network it has invested billions in available for other retailers to take advantage of as the in-house/outsourced services trend continues.
Ryder is expanding a nationwide B2B network called Coop that matches available trucks from fleet owners in a variety of modes, Uber-like, with shippers with a temporary need for capacity to meet demand in a tight market for assets. New locations are being added in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Paris-based major 3PL Geodis is acquiring Need It Now Delivers, adding last-mile delivery principally on the east coast, a capability that was lacking for the contract logistics, freight and fulfillment provider as it looks to ramp up its penetration into ecommerce and omnichannel companies.
Amazon is jumping on the peak surcharge bandwagon for the first time, asking sellers using its Fulfillment By Amazon service to pay 35 cents more per item for goods sold in the U.S. and Canada, running from Oct. 15 to Jan. 14, according to CNBC. This follows peak fee announcements from both FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.
The domestic market for industrial space, including retail/ecommerce distribution/fulfillment centers, won’t see relief in terms of an appreciable jump in new facilities available to help meet unprecedented demand until the first half of 2023, as the holiday peak season approaches. The overall U.S. vacancy rate is at a record low of 2.9%.
For lower-priced products or some less expensive bulky items, returnless refunds can be cheaper than shipping the item back, restocking, selling and shipping again. But this also has its own risks, with the potential to encourage malicious shopper behavior and opening another avenue for scammers trying to score free stuff.
As you conduct strategic planning for ecommerce fulfillment operations, what are the strategies you should consider to remain competitive and be efficient this year and in the future? This post looks at seven trends that are shaping operations in multichannel companies, including supply chain and workforce issues.
An activist investor group with control of at least two board seats at FedEx is reaching out to FedEx Ground contractors to see what they think of efforts by a new association of independent service providers to collectively approach management about challenges to their operations.