warehouse workers

Ecommerce, 3PLs Account for 61% of Major Warehouse Deals in 2018

| Mike O'Brien

Ecommerce logistics, including 3PLs, accounted for 61 of the 100 largest deals on warehouse and industrial space in 2018, according to commercial real estate brokerage CBRE. The deals totaled 61.5 million square feet of space in 32 markets, with facilities ranging in size from 742,000 square feet to 2.3 million square feet.

Ryder box truck feature

Ryder Introduces Ecommerce Fulfillment Service

| Mike O'Brien

Transportation and supply chain provider Ryder System has unveiled a new ecommerce fulfillment service offering designed to compete with full-service platforms such as Amazon and Google as well as major carriers by providing a soup-to-nuts system for shipping directly to customers.

How Ecommerce Operations Summit 2019 Can Improve Your DTC Business

| Brian Barry

Given the rapid pace of change, how forward looking are your operations and fulfillment strategies, and are you pursuing the right ones? Ecommerce Operations Summit (April 9-11, Columbus), is an excellent way to evaluate emerging trends. Here are some highlights we found in the conference agenda, and why they’re beneficial.

MCM CommerceChat podcast

Tackling the Challenges of Store Inventory Accuracy

| Mike O'Brien

If stores are the weak link in inventory accuracy, how do you improve it to avoid stock-outs and dissatisfied customers? Steve DeNunzio of Ohio State’s graduate logistics program covers the challenges and solutions in this MCM CommerceChat podcast. He’ll also lead this discussion at Ecommerce Operations Summit in Columbus, OH.

Walmart, Deliv Part Ways, Retailer Signs Four New Partnerships

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart and Deliv have decided to part ways, and the major retailer is still working with seven other delivery services to get grocery orders to customers, Reuters and others are reporting. Walmart has signed on four new delivery partners since January, including Deliv competitors Doordash and Postmates.

9 Considerations a Vendor Will Evaluate in Negotiating Deals

| Brian Barry

Whether it’s software or 3PL services you’re negotiating, it’s important to understand how vendors look at your company and the deal you want to cut. Understanding things from their perspective can help you forge successful vendor relationships. Here are 9 considerations to take into account when evaluating a prospective deal.

Amazon Officially Calls Out Carriers as Competitors

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon’s moves into logistics and fulfillment over the past few years have been well-documented, with FedEx and UPS downplaying the threat and Amazon saying it just wants to address its capacity shortfalls. Until now, that is, when Amazon added “transportation and logistics services” to the long list of competitive sectors in its 2018 10k filing.

warehouse with forklift

How One B2B Company Started Its Internal Benchmarking Program

| Brian Barry

What kind of metrics should you analyze, and what depth of analysis is required for an operational assessment in your B2B company? This case study outlines how to establish benchmarks on fulfillment center productivity, and the steps used to collect and analyze data to improve performance and understand future fulfillment network needs.