It’s been a wild year for retailers. The homestretch of 2020 finds most of them hoping to over-perform and make up for time and money lost to the COVID-19 crisis. Do American consumers have enough left in the tank (and the bank account) to provide a much-needed boost? Let’s examine that question by looking back to October.
This peak holiday season will be unlike any before, and brands must adapt accordingly. These unusual circumstances need to be met with creative solutions. Here are a few ways to avoid this scenario by looking at alternative last-mile delivery options that will keep both consumers and brands happy.
As consumers have begun holiday shopping earlier than ever, merchants are expecting historical peak trends, and fraudsters will try to take advantage of this. To prepare for the uptick in BOPIS fraud this holiday season, consider enacting both short-term and long-term fraud mitigation strategies to protect yourself and your customers.
The Online Merchants Guild is suing California’s taxing authority for holding Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) sellers liable for back sales tax. The issue: Is inventory stored in California by Amazon, which in many cases the individual sellers many not even be aware of, taxable? Scott Peterson of Avalar helps us unpack the issue.
From suppliers to logistics providers to manufacturers and retailers, the extended supply chain is pursuing omnichannel connectivity in an effort to deliver innovative customer experiences, streamline operations, reduce costs and improve flexibility and resiliency. But packaged commercial OTS software and data silos won’t cut it.
Agile and adaptable digital solutions are the new normal for optimizing premium fulfillment center space, said SnapFulfil CEO, Don White – as well as satisfying more demand, staying competitive, plus managing labor efficiency and productivity.
Amazon is adding perks for its legion of thousands of crowdsourced delivery drivers through the Flex program, creating a rewards program that includes things like a cash-back debit card and the ability to earn access to more desirable routes and slots.
In the peak holiday season like no other, Adobe is calling for a 33% increase in holiday ecommerce sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, hitting a record $189 billion, equal to two years’ growth from a single year, as retailers, carriers and solution providers alike gear up for a blowout.
In a linkup of major players, ecommerce platform Shopify, with more than 1 million merchants, has partnered with hugely popular Chinese video sharing site TikTok. A new TikTok channel on Shopify lets sellers can set up, manage and track campaigns natively within the platform, accessing a global audience of 800 million users.
Ecommerce fulfillment software and systems integration provider Vargo has partnered with robotics sortation and grasping robot maker Kindred and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) creator Fetch Robotics to help their systems better sync with order orchestration and workflows. This continues a recent trend of SI/robotics partnerships.