Continuing a growing trend toward making ecommerce returns more convenient and safer for shoppers in the contactless pandemic era, Staples has struck a partnership with Optoro in which the office supply giant will accept unboxed returns from other retailers that will be processed by Optoro. More retailers will come online in January.
Unboxing has become kind of a big deal in retail and ecommerce. It not only elevates the customer experience with a “wow factor” but also serves as a promotional tool for brands as unboxing videos are shared so often on social media, and often go viral. This infographic from 2Flo lays out many of the key elements and benefits.
With Prime Day hitting Oct. 13-14, the unofficial kickoff of a very different holiday season, sellers are geared up to take advantage of the massive shopping event, but the proximity to other mega events from Thanksgiving on may lead shoppers and sellers to choose one or the other vs. both. Still Prime Day 2020 is expected to break records.
We’ve been talking about “the new normal” since the pandemic began, but it’s hard to put a finger on it. For millennials at least it seems to be ecommerce. The last generation born in the 20th century is a decidedly 21st-century cohort, and you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. Here’s how to reach them over the holidays.
Analysts and experts are looking optimistically to modest retail holiday sales gains to cap off a tough year, but like most of the rest of 2020 it will be a tale of two channels as stores remain a question mark during some fall pandemic surges and consumer wariness.
The harsh truth is that this holiday season will be a true test for retailers and brands – can they meet demand while exceeding high customer expectations? Those that can’t quickly adapt will lose out to fierce competition. Technology can help them scale up and optimize their fulfillment and delivery to win the 2020 holidays.
ShipBob, a provider of third-party logistics with facilities in the U.S., Canada and Europe, has raised $68 million to fuel growth, expand its platform and more than double its global network, a signal of the significant venture capital flowing into logistics to support the ecommerce explosion. This brings the total raised to $130.5 million.
Walmart and Target didn’t hesitate in responding to Amazon’s announcement of Prime Day on Oct. 13 and 14, an unusual occurrence in an extraordinary year, by rolling out their own deals and offers to try to steal some of the unusually early holiday thunder from the ecommerce leader.
A massive shift to ecommerce has already created peak-like conditions for shippers and carriers in 2020. Now comes the actual holiday season, a huge unknown but still expected to generate staggering volumes. This report taps ecommerce logistics experts who discuss the extraordinary challenges facing shippers this Q4.
This holiday season retailers will not only have to contend with decreased carrier capacity due to the pandemic but also the anticipated influx of mail-in election ballots – all of which could result in a “super peak” holiday nightmare for retailers. Now is the time to implement strategies to ensure they can keep up with demand.