Flowspace, a provider of warehouse-on-demand software and services, has raised $31 million in a new round to expand its business and build on capabilities like predictive analytics to help retailers achieve fulfillment network optimization through precise fulfillment hub and inventory positioning.
A California regulatory agency has fined Amazon and one of its delivery contractors $6.4 million for alleged wage theft violations between April 2018 and January 2020, saying drivers were not paid properly on long shifts and often had to miss meals. The investigation cited Amazon and Green Messengers of Santa Ana, CA.
Amazon is giving merchants using its Seller Fulfilled Prime a break in terms of service level commitments, removing a plan to have them meet one- and two-day shipping requirements, in light of ongoing challenges on speedy delivery from carriers, CNBC reported.
As 2020 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect back on a wild and crazy year in retail, to paraphrase the Festrunk brothers from Saturday Night Live. COVID-19 came in like a wrecking ball in February and March, causing widespread shutdowns that hit retail especially hard, leading to hockey-stick growth in ecommerce.
Walmart on Sept. 9 launched a second pilot drone delivery program, this time in Fayetteville, NC, using a control system from Israeli firm Flytrex, zipping grocery and household items to nearby customers. This is in addition to a program drone program Walmart launched in April in Grand Forks, ND, again with Flytrex.
Ware2Go, a UPS-owned provider of fulfillment on demand through partnership with warehouse owners, via an integration with Google Shopping, lets merchants offer free shipping early in the search and discovery process on Google, aimed at increasing conversion. Ware2Go handles fulfillment through its partner network.
USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy doubled down on the need for greater efficiency and performance, while enacting new measures. Also, the USPS reached an agreement in principle to receive a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the CARES act, and created for the first time a loyalty program.
Buyers used to ask retailers when their item could be delivered. Now, they want to choose the in-home delivery time and track it online. That’s a somewhat new and difficult expectation for brands to meet. The good news is that sophisticated truck routing solutions are available to help merchants better manage in-home home delivery.
E-grocery sales continued to spike upward in June, increasing 9% over May to $7.2 billion as pandemic-fueled consumer behavior followed a hockey stick pattern, according to a survey conducted by Brick Meets Click on behalf of Mercatus. 45.6 million households placed e-grocery orders in June, up from 43 million in May.
Postmates is considering either an IPO or an acquisition by Uber to augment the latter’s own Uber Eats delivery services as its core ride hailing suffers during the pandemic, according to several media reports. The fourth largest U.S. food delivery service has also received a second offer from a special purpose acquisition company.