It’s safe to say that same-day delivery isn’t a passing trend: vendors and carriers are listening by expanding their reach to major areas to make same-day delivery a reality. See what carriers are doing with same-day delivery.
Innotrac is expanding its quantitative and qualitative studies of retail shipments and returns to include the pre-Christmas rush as well as Cyber Monday.
Alibaba and China Shipping Group joined forces to establish a new logistic platform that enhances the efficiency of international trade and benefits both Chinese and Brazilian companies when it’s fully operational.
Known as ePass, the new service combines Alipay’s cross-border foreign currency settlement capability with overseas delivery solutions from China Smart Logistics Network. It offers retailers access to e-marketing options from Chinese online ad network Alimama.
Amazon announced it plans to hire 80,000 seasonal employees at its 50 fulfillment centers and 15 sortation centers in the U.S. to handle peak demand.
Expanding a service it has offered here overseas, Amazon has launched same-day parcel pickup in the UK through its delivery partner Connect Group.
Google Express has challenged Amazon’s membership pricing by offering the service for $95 a year, while Amazon offers its Prime membership service for $99 a year.
Among other things, the acquisition of ABOL will allow MetaPack to provide its customers with improved visibility into global shipments across carriers and countries. It also offers enhanced delivery intelligence and reporting to better understand delivery challenges like potential delays, so retailers can make adjustments in their supply chain to alleviate issues.
“We have a very structured plan around all we’re trying to do to grow our package business,” said Cliff Rucker, vice president of sales for the USPS. “When you think about it, over one-third of our volume is gone since 2006 on the letter side, so that’s why we see packaging as a growth area.”
Once viewed as an extra customer incentive, “free” shipping has quickly becoming the norm for retailers when selling online. With online retail giants like Amazon upping the ante, it seems like there is no other option for retailers but to keep up and take the hit to the bottom line.
But omnichannel retailers are starting to realize they don’t always have resort to margin-eroding “free” shipping to compete.