Shipping delays and supply chain disruptions are nothing new in ecommerce, but this past year has definitely been a challenge. Yet on-time delivery has become a staple of ecommerce. Although not all aspects of the logistics side of things are within your control, you can take steps to ensure satisfaction on every order.
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Target, one of the clear retail winners in the pandemic era, posted another impressive quarter, with Q4 revenue, earnings and comparable sales outpacing projections and its omnichannel strategy firing on all cylinders as it reported a $9 billion gain in market share based on internal and market research.
In a move surprising no one except for the timing, Walmart announced it’s dropping the $35 minimum order threshold for shoppers to qualify for same-day delivery with its Walmart Express service, just months after doing the same for members of its Walmart+ subscription program. Walmart’s ecommerce growth “fell” to 69% in Q4.
Shippo, a shipping software platform provider, has raised $45 million in a new funding round, with plans to invest in product and engineering teams as well as exploring ways to extend its technology into the pre- and post-purchase realms to increase the value and stickiness of its offering.
Walgreens is launching same-day delivery with partner Instacart, starting in Illinois and rolling out to its 8,000 stores nationwide by the spring, beginning with express stops in Southeast Florida, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and New York. Through the partnership, tens of thousands of items can arrive in as little as an hour.
With the new year underway, you may be feeling the burden of the latest round of carrier rate and surcharge increases hitting parcel costs. In order to understand and mitigate their business impact, you need to arm yourself with information. How can you measure the net impact of these changes? It all starts with good, accurate data.
First it was AI-equipped onboard cameras watching Amazon’s contract drivers along their routes. Now an app called Mentor monitors driver performance, which can interpret legitimate activities as risky ones, resulting in lower scores and sometimes termination. The company has reportedly been using Mentor for years.
The U.S. Postal Service had a very rare quarter in the black, and the Postmaster General promised to implement a bold 10-year plan to address shortfalls in service, infrastructure and the workforce, saying the disastrous delivery performance over the holidays was unacceptable.
With the imperative to reduce returns shipping costs, it’s no wonder SMB fulfillment teams increasingly look for data trends. Patterns can help identify recurring fulfillment errors, which can be eliminated to help reduce avoidable returns. But as the stakes continue to rise, how do you address “unavoidable” returns?