MCM CommerceChat podcast

Instacart and the Great Facebook Talent Raid

| Mike O'Brien

Instacart has been on its own shopping spree, hiring away Fidji Simo, who ran Facebook’s main app, as CEO, as well as Facebookers Carolyn Everson as president and Asha Sharma as COO. What’s behind Instacart’s Facebook hiring binge? In this latest MCM CommerceChat podcast, we explore the subject with Orlee Tal, CEO of Stor.ai.

UPS Buys Way into Last Mile with Roadie

| Mike O'Brien

UPS announced it was acquiring last mile platform Roadie for an undisclosed sum, thrusting it front and center into a space that has spiked in the pandemic era, providing a way to service demand that doesn’t fit into its existing network, including groceries and bulky items. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

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The Four Pillars of Success in an Omnichannel OMS

| MCM Staff

Order Management Systems provide the foundation of omnichannel success for retailers and brands building direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies. In this free on-demand MCM webinar, Forrester analyst Emily Pfeiffer and executives with Softeon discuss key aspects of an omnichannel OMS and case studies from leading retailers.

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Update: CA Gov. Signs Bill Targeting Amazon Labor Practices

| Mike O'Brien

Update, Sept. 24: California Gov. Gavin Newsome on Thursday signed a bill that targets labor practices in ecommerce warehouses, including banning the enforcement of performance quotas that impinge on basic worker’s rights like restroom and lunch breaks. Amazon, not named in the bill, is clearly targeted by lawmakers.

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Geodis Leases Air Freighter to Add Capacity from Asia

| Mike O'Brien

Major 3PL and freight forwarder Geodis has signed a five-year lease on an air freighter to deliver extra capacity for its shipper clients heading into the peak season as space continues to tighten up on air freight due to the ongoing delays in ocean freight out of Asia.

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The Carrier Capacity Crunch: A Dynamic Approach

| JP Wiggins

The carrier capacity crunch is real, and these LTL capacity issues aren’t going anywhere soon. The only answer for shippers to manage their transportation is to turn to dynamic solutions and lean on technology that is rapidly evolving to meet evolving supply chain and transportation network needs.

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Last Mile Constraints: Start with the End in Mind

| Deanna Kaufman

Now that we’re looking toward a fast-approaching peak and 2022, what has changed about last mile constraints, and how can supply chains retain a competitive advantage through last mile operations? Here are some thoughts, looking at the issue through the lens of spend management, cost to serve and capacity constraints.

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Point Pickup Acquires GrocerKey, Builds Instacart Alternative

| Mike O'Brien

Point Pickup, a provider of last-mile services for grocers, general merchandise and oversize goods, has acquired ecommerce platform GrocerKey, providing an end-to-end solution for retailers looking to own the customer experience and data often missing from third-party solutions like Instacart.

Smart Warehouse Technology the Wave of the Future

| Mike O'Brien

Smart warehouse technology powered by 5G, combined with the sensor- and data-driven Internet of Things (IoT), will be as transformative for logistics and supply chain as the Ford assembly line in 1913, attendees were told during a presentation at Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021 in Nashville.

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Assessing Your Dock-to-Stock Efficiency

| Brian Barry

Dock-to-stock time is a KPI measuring the time from receipt on your dock to a pickable or bulk reserve location. The process involves aspects of purchase order writing, inbound transportation, receiving, staging, inspection and put away. Here’s eight steps to help you assess your processes, identify problems and lay out an action plan.