Dealing With Home Improvement Returns Season

| Scott Huddle

Home improvement shopping season is in full swing. Unfortunately, spring is also a sign that retailers are entering one of the most logistically challenging and costly returns seasons of the year. Here is a review of major returns issues following home improvement season, and what retailers can do to mitigate the fallout.

Shopify Grows, Amazon Slows: A Bellwether for Ecommerce’s Future

| Matthew Lynch

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that most if not all fundamental features and characteristics of DTC brands are not just different from Amazon, but diametrically opposed to it. While Amazon takes the word “monolithic” to new extremes, platforms like Shopify thrive by staying low to the ground and expanding outward.

Target, Like Walmart, Takes a Q1 Profit Hit

| Mike O'Brien

Target joined fellow big-box retailer Walmart today in posting a first-quarter earnings figure well below expectations as inflationary strain, inventory overstocks and spiraling costs including from labor and fuel continue to challenge the sector. Same-day services were up 8% — but it had grown a whopping 120% in Q1 of 2021.