Amazon, Delivery Contractor Fined $6.4 Million

| Mike O'Brien

A California regulatory agency has fined Amazon and one of its delivery contractors $6.4 million for alleged wage theft violations between April 2018 and January 2020, saying drivers were not paid properly on long shifts and often had to miss meals. The investigation cited Amazon and Green Messengers of Santa Ana, CA.

Take Our MCM Outlook Survey 2021, And Have a Cuppa Joe

| Mike O'Brien

Multichannel Merchant is conducting its annual MCM Outlook survey to gauge how industry professionals are reacting to trends and market forces. The survey results help shape our editorial coverage, and your valuable input helps us get there. We’ll give you a $5 Starbucks gift card as our way of saying “thank you” for completing it.

Target Hits a Q4 Omnichannel Home Run

| Mike O'Brien

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.

A Peek into 2020 Peak: Fulfilling the Promise of Omnichannel

| Zach Thomann

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.

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Fulfillment Automation and Reduced Labor Costs

| Brian Barry

In 2021, will order demand continue at the same volume? How will it change? And how will it impact my labor demand? For many multichannel companies, this means moving toward fulfillment automation in order to decrease the amount of labor and its increasing costs. Here are 2 scenarios where automation was cost justified.

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Walmart Removes $35 Minimum for Same-Day Delivery

| Mike O'Brien

In a move surprising no one except for the timing, Walmart announced it’s dropping the $35 minimum order threshold for shoppers to qualify for same-day delivery with its Walmart Express service, just months after doing the same for members of its Walmart+ subscription program. Walmart’s ecommerce growth “fell” to 69% in Q4.

Are Your Ecommerce Returns Creating Non-Returners?

| Dan Nevin

Is your ecommerce returns process preventing customers from returning items – and thus not returning to shop with you again? The answer might be yes. Returns provide the ability to drive repeat purchases, if done right. Make sure your returns processes support this, and don’t instead create non-returners. 

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Shippo Raises $45M In New Round

| Mike O'Brien

Shippo, a shipping software platform provider, has raised $45 million in a new funding round, with plans to invest in product and engineering teams as well as exploring ways to extend its technology into the pre- and post-purchase realms to increase the value and stickiness of its offering.

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Walgreens Partners with Instacart

| Mike O'Brien

Walgreens is launching same-day delivery with partner Instacart, starting in Illinois and rolling out to its 8,000 stores nationwide by the spring, beginning with express stops in Southeast Florida, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and New York. Through the partnership, tens of thousands of items can arrive in as little as an hour.

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With Rising Parcel Costs, You Need Better Data

| Megan Rudolph

With the new year underway, you may be feeling the burden of the latest round of carrier rate and surcharge increases hitting parcel costs. In order to understand and mitigate their business impact, you need to arm yourself with information. How can you measure the net impact of these changes? It all starts with good, accurate data.