Flexe network illustration feature

Flexe Raises $70 Million to Continue Expansion

| Mike O'Brien

Flexe, pioneer of he concept of warehouse on demand, has raised $70 million to build out its technology platform and facilities network connecting shippers with available space while also providing WMS and OMS capabilities. The company has increased its facilities base 50% to 1,500 in the past year as ecommerce demand has exploded.

Robotic Arm Startup Osaro Raises $16 Million in New Funding

| Mike O'Brien

Osaro, a San Francisco startup that makes robotic arms for ecommerce picking as well as vision and control software that can be integrated with other robotic solutions, has raised $16 million in a series B round, according to various reports. Early investors include former Facebook president Sean Parker and PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Ecommerce Operations Summit 2019 Call for Speakers Now Open

| Mike O'Brien

Are you an operations and fulfillment professional with a great, compelling story to tell that will educate and inform your industry peers? If so, we want to hear from you! The Ecommerce Operations Summit 2019 Call for Speakers is open from now until Aug. 10. Send us your best ideas and we’ll consider them for next year’s agenda.

customer service puzzle

5 Common Customer Service Failures

| Sam Flanders

Companies with the highest levels of customer satisfaction always carry their goal of customer service perfection into the distribution center. It is too easy to think of the distribution center as an operation completely separated from the customer. And companies that do this do so at their own peril.

An Innovation Checklist for Direct to Customer Operations

| Jasmine Brown

The recent Executive Operations Forum at Operations Summit 2017 generated many ideas and cost-savings tips. What improvements, best practices and innovations have you implemented in your contact center, fulfillment and inventory management? Here are 27 innovations that six direct to customer companies attending the forum have implemented.

9 Mistakes to Avoid in Your ERP or OMS Selection

| Curt Barry

Studies show that more than 50% of all ERP and OMS systems are not installed on time and within budget. A significant number of companies spend 8 to 12 months after go live adapting to the new system. What are some of the mistakes that lead to poor ERP or OMS implementations? Here are 9 mistakes to avoid in order to increase your chances of success.

An Omnichannel Mixed Bag, Delivered in a Box

| Mike O'Brien

As someone who lives, eats, sleeps and often writes about omnichannel, it’s always interesting to be a participant in the “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” dynamic. See how Bob’s Stores got my experience exactly right, but fell down in terms of fulfillment efficiency.

ecommerce returns

8 Ways to Lessen the Profit Impact of Ecommerce Returns

| Curt Barry

Ecommerce returns are a fact of life for multichannel merchants, but there are a number of creative ways to reduce their frequency – and the expense hit that goes straight to the bottom line. Here are 8 tips to help you do exactly that.

5 Ways to Reducing Shipping Costs in the New Year

| Jake Rheude

Higher shipping costs not only harm your margins, but they may push away potential customers with a big appetite for online shopping. A bad experience or a high price could send them into the arms of your competitors. So what can you do to prevent this from happening? Here are 5 ways you can rein in high shipping costs.

Gaining Perspective on Your Operational Performance

| Mike O'Brien

Meeting the demands of today’s always-on shopper has never been more challenging. So how can you gain a window into how you’re doing compared to others in the industry as you set your investment priorities? Multichannel Merchant’s exclusive benchmarking project with F. Curtis Barry & Co. will help you gauge your operational performance across key functional areas.