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Improving Ecommerce Fulfillment Productivity, Decreasing Labor Costs

| Brian Barry

In calculating ecommerce fulfillment cost per order, labor generally makes up more than 50% of the total. As labor costs continue to increase, overall fulfillment center productivity in many companies has remained flat. What are you doing to manage your labor and reduce costs? Here are five tactics companies should consider.

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USPS Tests New Local Delivery Service in Texas

| Mike O'Brien

While UPS buys its way into last mile and on-demand delivery with Roadie, the U.S. Postal Service is piloting a same/next-day delivery service in Texas, geared toward local business-to-consumer orders that companies bring to a local USPS office to get a discounted rate. Experts questioned its value and market relevance.

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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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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.

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Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021: It’s Here!

| Mike O'Brien

Hard to believe it, but it’s here! Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021 is kicking off this Tuesday, Aug. 17 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, and we have lots of great things on tap for you as we regather in person as a community of ecommerce/DTC operations and fulfillment professionals.

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A 3PL-to-Insourcing Switch: 10 Considerations

| Brian Barry

Merchants that utilize third-party fulfillment (3PL) services sometimes consider transitioning back to internal fulfillment operations. Sometimes it’s to control costs, while others have had a bad experience with 3PLs and now only trust themselves with their operations. Here are 10 factors to consider if you’re looking to insource.

MCM CommerceChat podcast

Prepping for Peak Season at Burton

| Mike O'Brien

Israel Maynard, Senior Director of International Logistics and Fulfillment for outdoor gear and apparel retailer Burton, has been busy working with vendors overseas and partners here to get everything stocked and set for his peak season. We discuss all this in our latest MCM CommerceChat podcast.

MCM CommerceChat podcast

Rolling With the Changes, Meeting New Demand at Tractor Supply

| Mike O'Brien

As the pandemic settled in, many were looking to escape urban environs and get back to the land. Letitia Webster, Tractor Supply’s SVP of ecommerce, omnichannel and MDM, and a keynote at Ecommerce Operations Summit (Aug. 17-18, Nashville) talks about how her team met this new demand and improved processes along the way.

MCM CommerceChat podcast

How Best Buy Approaches Hiring and Staffing Challenges

| Mike O'Brien

Finding enough workers is a problem, and you need to be mindful of how the workforce is changing to meet staffing objectives. Mark Irvin, chief inclusion and diversity officer for Best Buy and a keynoter at Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021, talks about how his charge aligns with the company’s labor management strategy.

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Ecommerce Operations Summit Strikes the Right Notes in Music City

| Mike O'Brien

Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021 is back live, at the Gaylord Opreyland in Nashville on Aug. 17-18, and the team at Multichannel Merchant has a great event on tap to help operations and fulfillment professionals keep on top of key industry trends and address the challenges of a disruptive time. Read on for some program highlights.