Order Fulfillment
April 21, 2016 at 11:38 am
When San Francisco resident Catherine Lelong recently received a delivery from Sam’s Club, she was confused: She didn’t remember having placed an order with the membership club. She was right. Lelong hadn’t placed an order from Sam’s Club, but she eventually realized that the bottle of detergent inside the box was something she had recently ordered…
April 21, 2016 at 9:24 am
Before the rise of e-commerce, the intricacies of a complex global supply chain were mostly hidden from the consumer. Products appeared on store shelves and in the pages of catalogs seemingly by magic; the very appearance of a mail-order package on a doorstep was considered impressive in and of itself. Not so today. With each…
April 20, 2016 at 10:47 am
In the shadow of Greenwich’s 02 Arena — the futuristic dome originally built as London’s showpiece for the Millennium — what looks like a picnic cooler on wheels zips among groups of gawking children. This little delivery robot, designed to autonomously navigate sidewalks, not roads, later this year will begin making deliveries from local businesses…
April 19, 2016 at 10:45 am
CVS has invested in Curbside, a Silicon Valley startup that allows shoppers to order products online and pick up their orders from a local store without leaving their car. The drugstore chain and the startup have been working together since last year, when they launched a pilot test in three cities that now encompasses 350…
April 4, 2016 at 9:43 am
Amazon.com plans to broaden the reach of its fast delivery service Prime Now, and is selling major brands promotional deals connected to the expansion, a sign the world’s largest Internet retailer is satisfied with early results from the nascent offering. The service — now only available through the Prime Now app on smartphones — will be…
March 30, 2016 at 10:53 am
The relationship between retailers and customers has always been about proximity: the closer, the better. However, as e-commerce and digital retail continue to transform the industry, there’s a new twist to the location equation. Instead of being about the location of the brick-and-mortar store, it’s now about the location of the customer. The challenge for…
March 22, 2016 at 11:21 am
Clothing brand American Apparel has formally partnered with startup Postmates to offer consumers on-demand delivery (within the hour) of "Basics" clothing, which includes standard tees, sweatshirts, body suits, pants, leggings and dresses for all genders. The service will be offered in 79 American Apparel stores throughout the U.S., spanning 31 metropolitan areas. At launch, delivery fees will…
March 15, 2016 at 10:09 am
Most Amazon.com shoppers love how the site immediately predicts shipping costs and delivery date for their purchases. As soon as shoppers click on a product, they see a message such as, “Want it Wednesday, Sept. 30 by 4 p.m.? Order in the next 11 minutes, six seconds.” What’s noteworthy is that Amazon does this up…
March 11, 2016 at 8:42 am
The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently released its sales forecast for 2016, and it's predicting steady growth year-over-year of 3.1 percent. While this is on par with previous years’ gains, it’s just not good enough for retailers looking to blow the doors off in 2016. The retail industry is constantly evolving, forcing brands to generate new and…
March 10, 2016 at 12:56 pm
Amazon.com is taking to the skies. The e-commerce powerhouse has finalized an agreement to lease 20 Boeing jets from Air Transport Services Group Inc. as it builds out its U.S. delivery capabilities. Amazon has been investing heavily in its shipping infrastructure, adding sorting centers, which sort packages by zip code and deliver them to post offices. And…
