Order Fulfillment

Amazon.com is testing a service that uses the company’s network of Flex drivers to pick up packages from mall-based retailers and deliver them to customers. The program, first reported on by Bloomberg, has been running since last year. Much like drivers for Instacart or DoorDash, Amazon’s Flex drivers use their own vehicles to deliver packages. They…

Ultrafast delivery — same-day or next-day — is now the new normal. Amazon.com and other leading retailers have reset customer expectations with shipping options that the rest of the industry must match to stay competitive. The good news for omnichannel retailers is that their brick-and-mortar outlets can help them win the last-mile delivery race. By…

Amazon.com will let other online merchants piggyback on its Prime service to deliver goods quickly to their customers, reports CNBC. The company on Thursday launched a new service, Buy with Prime, that lets third-party merchants use Amazon’s vast shipping and logistics network to fulfill orders on their own sites, while also appealing to Amazon’s 200…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published by Total Retail titled, “2022 Delivery and Retail Trends,” authored by Jay Sackos, vice president of Dolly. Many of the biggest trends in retail today have to do with getting products into the hands of customers…

Retail has significantly changed in recent years. Consumers were already moving away from in-person retailing before the pandemic hit, and it's a shift that has picked up considerably since then. For those remaining brick-and-mortar stores, technical advances have been employed to keep customers happy — and keep them coming back. Many of the biggest trends…

For small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), exceptional customer experiences are the key to building and growing a loyal customer base. Experiences like faster delivery options are attractive to customers, but as technological and cultural preferences evolve, it can be challenging for SMBs to keep up without sacrificing quality of service. As superior customer experiences can’t exist without…

From the manufacturing of goods to shipping to last-mile fulfillment and delivery, the entire supply chain has seen its challenges over the last few years. It's difficult for everyone directly involved to relieve the stresses being put on the cogs that keep the machine running. With the increase in consumer demand for at-home deliveries during…

The pandemic has changed our shopping habits for the foreseeable future, with customers expecting flexible ways to purchase items, including curbside pickup, same-day delivery and, of course, a good old-fashioned in-store shopping experience. These options are great for customers, and the flexibility gives them more control to shop in a way that best fits their…

The theory goes that consumers come in two varieties: those who shop with a focus and those who browse at leisure. It’s a tidy split. However, shoppers aren’t so tidy in practice. They switch between purpose and leisure as easily as they glide between online and offline. Many retailers accommodate various types of shoppers by…

Creating innovative products from properly sourced raw materials. Hiring social media influencers to show off your latest product release. Using data to deliver an amazing web and app experience. These are the kinds of things that e-commerce brands dream about when launching a business. They're the fun parts of e-commerce, but they're only half the…