UPS Acquires UK Truck Brokerage Firm Freightex

| Mike O'Brien

UPS has acquired British firm Freightex to gain entry into the European truck brokerage market. This comes eight months after FedEx closed its acquisition of Netherlands-based TNT Express. See what a UPS unit executive had to say about the rationale behind the move, how it will be integrated with Coyote Logistics and how it’s positioned in the European market.

Nebraska Furniture Mart Enhances Supply Chain Visibility

| MCM staff

Nebraska Furniture Mart has improved supply chain visibility, forecast accuracy and customer service while optimizing the company’s freight operations and fostering increased collaboration with partners and vendors. See what other benefits the company realized from implementing an integrated supply chain solution.

What Shoppers Thought of the 2016 Holiday Delivery Experience

| MCM staff

How did shoppers react to their holiday delivery experience in 2016, and what were the weak and strong spots for retailers? What kind of complaints did they have, and what areas do retailers need to shore up to improve their performance in 2017? This infographic from Convey provides some insights and tips on how to improve the experience in 2017.

UPS, shipping, financial results, operations and fulfillment, FedEx, TNT

UPS Explains Rationale of New Optoro Partnership

| MCM staff

Multichannel Merchant recently caught up with Steve Brill, vice president for retail and global B2C for UPS, to dig a bit deeper into the rationale behind the agreement. See what each side brings to the table, and the benefits created by the combined solution.

Tompkins Launches Ecommerce Fulfillment Alliance

| Mike O'Brien

After years in the supply chain consulting business, Tompkins International is launching the MonarchFx Alliance, a consortium of technology and service providers it says will eventually provide more efficient, faster ecommerce fulfillment across sectors including apparel, furniture and appliances, cross-border, cold storage and stores. See what else the alliance has in store, and who has partnered with it.

Retailers Achieve 97% Holiday Order Fulfillment

| Mike O'Brien

A Kurt Salmon study found 97% of retailers delivered orders on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas, up from 95% in 2015 and 87% in 2014. This was partly due to pulling the cutoffs back by a day in many cases, and changing up website messaging at the deadline. See what else the study found, including the performance of luxury brands.

5 Steps to a Better Third-Party Logistics Relationship

| Curt Barry

Outsourcing fulfillment and customer care operations is not for everyone, and many merchant companies feel they can keep costs low by maintaining control. But for those who do use a 3PL, here are 5 ways to get the most out of the relationship, helping them deliver value while improving your results.

4 Steps To Defend Your Brand Against Porch Pirates

| Rob Taylor

Porch pirates might not wear eyepatches, have a parrot and say “shiver me timbers,” but they have proven to be a growing menace – and all your customer knows is her package didn’t arrive. While you can’t totally avoid this scourge of ecommerce, these 4 steps will help you defend your reputation by ensuring the safe delivery of packages.

Amazon Wins Patent for Flying FC, Blows Out Holidays

| Mike O'Brien

It’s never a dull moment with Amazon, which won a patent for an airborne FC, sold 1 billion items the last two months and created another shopping holiday. Find out more about these latest developments from the ecommerce behemoth.