Shipping

‘Tis the season to start thinking about your last-mile deliveries for the holidays. While the end-of-year cheer and festivities might seem like they're still far off, it’s never too early to strategize the best course of action for your business’ last-mile holiday deliveries. What is Last-Mile Delivery? Also referred to as final-mile delivery or final-mile…

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…

The Home Depot on Wednesday became the first retailer to announce it was using Walmart's new delivery business, GoLocal, and would engage Walmart's drivers to deliver home improvement products purchased online to customers' doors in the coming weeks. In a press release Wednesday, Stephanie Smith, senior vice president of supply chain for The Home Depot,…

Fedex recently announced the largest general rate increase in nearly a decade. Effective Jan. 3, 2022, shipping rates will increase by an average of 5.9 percent for Express, Ground, Economy, Home Delivery and Freight. The changes are complex. Many companies will be hurt with increases greater than 5.9 percent as this is an "average" increase for all weights, zones,…

Costco is renting its own container ships to prevent delays and keep costs down as the global shipping crisis continues, according to Business Insider. In a call with analysts Thursday, Costco CFO Richard Galanti said the retailer has chartered three ships to import products from Asia to the U.S. and Canada to help Costco avoid spending six times the normal price…

What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, consumers were hesitant to spend on much besides essentials and products that would make their life at home more comfortable. They were fearful about going into stores, many of which were temporarily closed due to the pandemic anyway, worried about how COVID-19 would affect…

Shipping challenges and carrier capacity issues driven by the rapid growth in e-commerce over the last year demonstrated to retailers the need to begin planning for peak season as early as January. For many retailers, it’s already too late to adequately prepare for peak holiday shipping season 2021. During the 2021 holiday season, delivery demand…

On the heels of COVID-19, we sit in the most complex environment for parcel rates and service that we’ve seen in our lifetime. A confluence of factors have come together to bring sometimes fast-moving volatility to the market, which make parcel planning for large retailers incredibly challenging — both for peak and nonpeak.