A former director of business development for Walmart claims in a lawsuit the company skirted rules and published misleading results that helped to inflate its ecommerce numbers, according to Bloomberg. Walmart denies the claims and said it will vigorously defend itself.
As merchants search for ways to contend with the behemoth of Amazon – which accounted for about half of ecommerce sales in 2017 – many are focusing on the last mile, returns and outsourcing to battle back. This MCM Outlook report, based on our annual survey of Multichannel Merchant readers, looks at trends and stats in all three areas.
In a smaller version of December’s Target-Shipt deal, Dallas-based grocery chain H-E-B is acquiring Favor Delivery of Austin, an app-based service with access to 50,000 “runners” across Texas.
Leading Latin American online marketplace provider Mercado Libre is adding its first distribution centers, building two in Mexico to help improve its logistics in that country and better compete with Amazon.
If you read the headlines, it seems like 2018 already belongs to Amazon. However, it doesn’t need to be this way. Retailers can use their own strengths and go up against Amazon this year. Here are three ways to make this happen.
As it continues to integrate its Whole Foods acquisition and deal with pullback in Amazon Fresh, Amazon is reportedly looking to consolidate that service with its Prime Now same-day delivery offering.
Walmart subscription bulk buying subsidiary Sam’s Club is rolling out an Amazon Prime-like service offering unlimited free shipping on nearly all items for its Plus members at $100 a year, $1 more than Prime charges, with no minimum order threshold.
Whole Foods just started offering free two-hour delivery for Amazon Prime members in four markets last week and the service is already starting to take off, at least in Austin, TX. See what else is cooking in the hot e-grocery sector.
What are your plans to improve your DTC operations? While you might not be launching rockets like Elon Musk or disrupting markets like Jeff Bezos, you need to think more in terms of innovation. These 6 questions will help you gauge whether you’re innovating fast enough.
Once again Amazon is in the news about logistics and the potential for encroachment on territory owned by UPS and FedEx, both of which have Amazon as a major client, the next iteration of what began as Amazon Seller Flex last fall.