While UPS buys its way into last mile and on-demand delivery with Roadie, the U.S. Postal Service is piloting a same/next-day delivery service in Texas, geared toward local business-to-consumer orders that companies bring to a local USPS office to get a discounted rate. Experts questioned its value and market relevance.
UPS announced it was acquiring last mile platform Roadie for an undisclosed sum, thrusting it front and center into a space that has spiked in the pandemic era, providing a way to service demand that doesn’t fit into its existing network, including groceries and bulky items. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The carrier capacity crunch is real, and these LTL capacity issues aren’t going anywhere soon. The only answer for shippers to manage their transportation is to turn to dynamic solutions and lean on technology that is rapidly evolving to meet evolving supply chain and transportation network needs.
Now that we’re looking toward a fast-approaching peak and 2022, what has changed about last mile constraints, and how can supply chains retain a competitive advantage through last mile operations? Here are some thoughts, looking at the issue through the lens of spend management, cost to serve and capacity constraints.
Point Pickup, a provider of last-mile services for grocers, general merchandise and oversize goods, has acquired ecommerce platform GrocerKey, providing an end-to-end solution for retailers looking to own the customer experience and data often missing from third-party solutions like Instacart.
Dock-to-stock time is a KPI measuring the time from receipt on your dock to a pickable or bulk reserve location. The process involves aspects of purchase order writing, inbound transportation, receiving, staging, inspection and put away. Here’s eight steps to help you assess your processes, identify problems and lay out an action plan.
It’s no surprise consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and they’re expecting the same behavior from brands. And eco-friendly shipping is no exception. How much do consumers consider a company’s eco-friendly practices when buying online? What will they pay? How long will they wait? Here are the results.
For the logistics industry, historically heavily reliant on a checks and cash economic system, converting to consumer-like electronic payments similar to Venmo or Paypal was fast-tracked for many out of a necessity to limit exposure to the coronavirus. It also proved to be a revelation of unrealized, long-lasting advantages.
Hard to believe it, but it’s here! Ecommerce Operations Summit 2021 is kicking off this Tuesday, Aug. 17 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, and we have lots of great things on tap for you as we regather in person as a community of ecommerce/DTC operations and fulfillment professionals.
In an interesting twist, Walmart is offering access to services such as ecommerce order pickup and delivery to smaller retailers via a subscription program through partnering with Adobe, expanding revenue by selling its services a la Amazon’s cloud computing juggernaut.