
Order Fulfillment

The migration of retail purchasing towards digital channels has been widely reported as the industry conforms to the safety necessities of COVID-19. Now, after rapidly pivoting to scale ship-to-home, curbside pickup, and final-mile delivery to preserve as much pre-pandemic revenue as possible, the sustainability of these fulfillment and delivery services is reaching an inflection point.…
Walmart is partnering with Instacart to offer same-day grocery delivery starting in a few U.S. markets, making it the latest major retail chain to team up with the grocery delivery service in the fight against Amazon.com and Whole Foods. The partnership between Walmart and Instacart is currently in a pilot phase in three California markets — Los…
Amazon.com is in discussions with mall owner Simon Property Group about using some closed J.C. Penney and Sears stores in its malls for fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The talks have been ongoing for months, the sources said. “For Amazon, more fulfillment centers near residential areas would speed up the crucial last mile of delivery,”…
As our economy expands with e-commerce options, logistics emerges as a major differentiator among retailers that offer the same or similar products. The free two-day shipping model pioneered by Amazon.com has become a cultural expectation, and our collective appetite for fast and free delivery will only grow in the years ahead. For retailers with limited…
During the most recent Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange, Ran Reske, founder and co-CEO of Resident, a house of direct-to-consumer brands in the home goods space, including Nectar and DreamCloud, participated in an interview during which he discussed what the company is doing to ensure its brands rise above growing market competition, how the events…
It was a ticking time bomb: in a pre-COVID, increasingly omnichannel-driven world, many areas of North America and Europe were already oversaturated with physical retail. And now that the COVID-19 pandemic has either forced or prompted consumers to shop differently — often online for the first time — the shift to e-commerce has dramatically accelerated. Without…
Around the world, countries are taking gradual steps toward a return to normalcy amidst efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19. One of those key steps is the easing of restrictions on retailers. This follows months of store closures, which made e-commerce the primary sales channel for many businesses practically overnight. Looking ahead, we can…
The retail spaces that shoppers will return to following the COVID-19 pandemic won't be the same ones they shopped in previously. Associates and consumers will have to develop and adjust to new shopping behaviors that minimize physical touch and closeness. This period will be marked by innovation and experimentation, as retailers attempt to drive increased…
Walmart is launching a new subscription service later this month called Walmart+ that closely resembles Amazon Prime, multiple sources told Recode last week. According to the sources, Walmart+ will cost $98 a year, and will include perks such as same-day delivery of groceries and general merchandise, discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations, and early…
Recent data found that nearly 70 percent of shoppers have made multiple buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) purchases, and over half have decided where to buy a product online based on whether they can pick it up in-store. BOPIS continues to grow in popularity among consumers, and for good reason — it combines the…