Order Fulfillment

The biggest risk for third-party Amazon.com sellers in the fourth quarter is likely to be inventory storage limits. Amazon’s Inventory Performance Index (IPI), which measures things like sell-through rate and age of inventory to determine what it costs Amazon to warehouse your inventory, is the primary factor the company uses to calculate sellers’ inventory storage…

Walmart said yesterday that it has started using fully driverless trucks in its online grocery business in an effort to increase capacity and reduce inefficiencies. Walmart has partnered with Gatik, a middle mile logistics provider that delivers goods safely and efficiently using its fleet of light and medium duty trucks that operate daily without a driver.…

Bed Bath & Beyond has partnered with Uber Technologies to launch a baby and kids vertical on the Uber Eats app, the companies announced Monday. Through the partnership, Uber will deliver baby and home products from 120 BuyBuy Baby and 750 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in the U.S. The selection includes essentials ranging from diapers and…

American consumers spent a whopping $861.12 billion with online retailers in 2020, up 44 percent from the previous year. Amazon.com, the largest North American online retailer, reported a significant rise in site visits in January 2021, up 20 percent from the year prior. It’s plain to see that e-commerce is blowing up, and we don’t…

External consumer-facing challenges and internal (sometimes immediate) strategic pivots have made the retail vertical very exciting to watch in the past 18 months. On one side, consumers have a major upper hand when it comes to purchasing decisions as there are many retailers that offer the same products, have similar pricing, and offer a variety…

Retail sales increased in September as worries about the COVID-19 delta variant pushed consumer spending toward merchandise rather than services like dining, entertainment or travel — despite supply chain disruptions and inflation, the National Retail Federation (NRF)said last week. NRF’s calculation of retail sales — which is based on U.S. Census Bureau monthly retail data but excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Marie Albiges discuss an article recently published by Total Retail, “Creating Fulfillment Independence to Reduce Shipping Challenges,” authored by Aimee Tierney, vice president of sales at Logistyx Technologies. Shipping challenges are top-of-mind for retailers preparing for holiday season demand with a COVID-impacted supply…

Even before the pandemic, brick-and-mortar stores were declining as online shopping was on the rise. The events of 2020 accelerated that shift and the future is increasingly digital, with more people than ever online. While e-commerce will never fully replace physical stores, we do know that it’s here to stay and has fundamentally changed the way…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Melissa Campanelli and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published on Total Retail titled, “Same-Day Delivery: Is the Reward Worth the Risk?,” authored by Jarrett Streebin, founder and CEO of EasyPost. This article advises that retailers consider whether it's possible for their business to feasibly offer…

Retailers are constantly looking to make efficiency gains to boost their overall performance. In fact, 67 percent of retailers state overall business operations efficiency to be of critical importance. Operational efficiencies enable retailers to cut costs, reduce risks and increase outputs, resulting in overall business growth. However, many retailers still struggle to serve customer demands…