Order Fulfillment

Amazon.com plans to tap thousands of U.S. small businesses, from bodegas to florists, to deliver its packages by the end of the year, Axios is first to report. On Monday, the e-commerce giant will start actively recruiting existing small businesses in 23 states including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North…

Running an e-commerce business can feel like constantly having to play catchup. Every month, there seems to be a shiny new tech solution that retailers and brands absolutely have to invest in if they want to remain competitive. Whether it’s the latest logistics software or the buzziest artificial intelligence tool, for retail startups and small…

Today’s brands are enjoying a once-in-a-century gold rush predominantly sparked by rapid digital growth and a discernible willingness on the part of consumers to take their shopping experiences, even those once thought to be sacred to brick-and-mortar retail, into an e-commerce environment. Add to that a seemingly endless number of sales and distribution channels —…

Not all consumers are the same — and retailers are realizing that it’s not just buying behavior that differs across customers. While most e-commerce merchants employ data-backed buyer personas that describe what drives each ideal customer to purchase, many vendors are recognizing the value of implementing delivery personas and tailoring their delivery options to meet…

The retail industry is a marathon, not a sprint. While retailers and brands can’t risk falling behind their competitors in the short term, they also must plan for the long haul. To achieve this, investments must be made in areas that improve customer retention and conversion and reduce operational costs over the long term. However,…

Walmart opened a high-tech market fulfillment center in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas on Monday, underlining its strategic move toward expanding the use of its stores as fulfillment centers. Located inside Store 100, the center is powered by a proprietary storage and retrieval system named Alphabot. According to Walmart, the new market fulfillment centers will…

Amazon.com is offering some customers an incentive to pick up their orders in-store rather than have it delivered to a home address as shipping costs soar, Reuters first reported Monday. The e-commerce giant sent emails to a number of Amazon Prime subscribers promising them $10 if they picked up any of their orders worth at…

Like their customers, brands want to shop for the best deals, too. And when it comes to picking a peak season partner, the time to shop is now. Even though the holiday shopping season is months away, decisions you make now can impact whether you have a successful peak season in 2023. Traditionally, peak season refers to popular…

E-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers are caught in a vortex of clamor about inflation, a potential economic downturn, and what some expect to be a shopping slowdown. At the same time, research shows there’s reason to be hopeful. Even if shoppers pump the brakes on spending, retail sales are still likely to increase some 4 percent…

For online retailers, the last mile is a critical element to the customer’s overall brand experience, covering the entire spectrum from website browsing to purchasing a product and, finally, to receiving a delivery. While the last mile is critically important to the customer’s brand experience, it contributes an estimated 53 percent to the total shipping…