Alibaba Pursuing Walmart Stores on its Home Turf

| Mike O'Brien

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is investing $2.9 billion in China’s largest “hyper-market” or superstore company, Sun Art Retail Group, in a move there against Walmart and its partnership with Alibaba rival JD.com. This is yet another chapter in the growing “clicks-to-bricks” trend, including Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition.

5 Direct-to-Customer Fulfillment Imperatives for Emerging Companies

| Brian Barry

Successful merchant businesses learn quickly how to provide good customer service at the lowest possible costs. Here are 5 imperatives that emerging companies need to focus on to establish timely and efficient direct-to-customer fulfillment processes.

CVS Offering Same-Day Delivery in Major Markets

| Mike O'Brien

Fearing possible encroachment from Amazon into prescription delivery, CVS will begin offering next-day delivery of both prescriptions and other retail items in major cities in 2018, and same-day service in Manhattan beginning Dec. 4.

Threadless Acquires Shoe Brand Bucketfeet

| Daniela Forte

Online artist community and ecommerce website Threadless has acquired shoe brand Bucketfeet, and the brand will be producing on-demand footwear. See what led Threadless to make this move.

Northwest Research Inc. Acquired by FedEx

| Mike O'Brien

FedEx announced it has acquired inventory management provider Northwest Research, adding technology to help with its ecommerce fulfillment capabilities. The companies said Northwest will provide “new approaches to inventory management issues, including specialized research to maximize successful outcomes for challenging shipments.”

MCM The Week In Review 10-27-17

| Chris Intili

Multichannel Merchant The News, Commentary & Events that Shaped Commerce This Week week of 10/27/2017 Threadless Acquires Shoe Brand Bucketfeet Online artist community and ecommerce website Threadless has acquired shoe … Continue Reading →