O+F Distribution Center Roundup, Dec. 15, 2014
O+F’s listing of recently announced expansions, additions and closures in retail distribution centers.
Fulfillment
Shopatron Talks Holiday Ecommerce Trends
Multichannel Merchant senior editor Mike O’Brien talks with Shopatron founder and CEO Ed Stevens about holiday ecommerce trends in the 2014 shopping season.
Amazon Testing Bikes for Ultra-Fast Delivery in New York
Amazon is once again pushing the ecommerce envelope, testing out the use of bicycle couriers in New York as part of a service called Amazon Prime Now, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The service will provide delivery of some items purchased on Amazon.com in an hour or two, the Journal said it had been told by an unnamed source.
Determining Which DTC Operations System Platform is the Best Fit
There are many systems possibilities for direct to customer businesses. The choices include ecommerce platforms with order management (OMS) functionality; standalone OMS; “best of breed” integrations with OMS, customer care or CRM front ends and a warehouse management system (WMS) for fulfillment; or ERP systems. How do you determine which is the best fit for your direct business?
Retailers Powered by Shopatron Saw 77% Gross Merchandise Value Growth on Cyber Monday
Omnichannel retailers on the Shopatron platform enjoyed 40% gross merchandise value growth spanning eight days, and spikes over the holiday weekend leading to remarkable year-over-year growth of over 93%.
Five Top Logistical Factors for Pop-up Store Success
Just as ecommerce once disrupted the time-honored tradition of brick and mortar retail, pop-up stores are seemingly the new, trendy must-haves for ecommerce retailers themselves.
From Amazon to Kate Spade, retailers globally have hopped on the pop-up store hype train.
Amazon Unveils its 8th Generation Fulfillment Center
On Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, Amazon revealed its newest generation fulfillment center using robotics, vision systems and high-end technology to speed up order delivery times for customers. Take a look at the Kiva Robots in action.
Making It Right for Affected Customers Key for Harry London
In the wake of a Thanksgiving fire that destroyed a distribution center outside Cleveland, 1-800-Flowers.com is doing all it can to make customers happy.
Automated Fulfillment Optimizes Shipping and Avoids Errors
The same technology that helped converge inventory levels has evolved and is now actually able to automate inventory management and fulfillment. By removing reliance on employees to track inventory, this makes mistakes less likely and allows order fulfillment from any location to orders on any channel. Thus omnichannel fulfillment is enabled, providing higher service levels to customers, more streamlined inventory management for retailers, and less stock tied up in expensive warehouses. Many retailers find that they are able to eliminate warehouses entirely and have retail locations function as mini-distribution centers.
Make Room for Dimensional Weight Pricing: A Look Ahead at Shipping in 2015
A quick primer on imminent dimensional weight pricing changes from UPS and FedEx, how to calculate them, and what you can do if your business is affected.