Shipping

Amazon's One-Day Shipping: A Day Late and a Dollar Short?
June 19, 2019 at 11:13 am

The demands of consumerism have "upped" everyone's game, and it seems our battle cry for instant gratification has been heard. While retailers struggle to match Amazon.com's pricing and selection, Amazon tries to close the gap on the "availability" offered by brick-and-mortar retailers. One-day shipping certainly gets Amazon closer to the core promise made by retailers,โ€ฆ

FedEx, Dollar General Partner on In-Store Parcel Service
June 18, 2019 at 2:52 pm

FedEx will offer pickup and drop-off services inside Dollar General stores, expanding the shipping companyโ€™s reach in rural America. Memphis-based FedEx on Monday announced the alliance with fellow Tennessee company Dollar General Corp. The companies plan to begin adding FedEx services in more than 1,500 Dollar General stores by late summer and expand to more than 8,000โ€ฆ

Overcoming the One-Day Delivery Blues
June 17, 2019 at 10:36 am

Amazon.com shocked the retail industry during its fourth-quarter earnings call when CFO Brian Olsavsky announced: โ€œSo, weโ€™re currently working on evolving our Prime free two-day shipping program to be a free one-day shipping program.โ€ Since Amazonโ€™s announcement, hundreds of e-tailers and their distribution partners have been working hard to figure out how to match theโ€ฆ

Controlling Shipping Costs Means More Than Just Comparing Base Rates, Part 1
June 14, 2019 at 11:23 am

With the sole purpose of buying the most expensive Starbucks drink ever served, William E. Lewis Jr. requested the coffee chain add 170 extra shots of espresso to his Venti Flat White order. As a result, the credit repair and identity theft consultant managed to jack up the priceโ€ฆ

Target Expands Same-Day Shipping as Delivery Wars Heat Up
June 13, 2019 at 11:16 am

Target is bringing its same-day delivery option to the masses โ€” the latest move in an ongoing delivery war involving the big-box retailer, Walmart and Amazon.com. Target announced today that customers in 47 states will now be able to get items delivered same day by paying a flat fee of $9.99 per order. Itโ€™s using Shipt, a membership-based, same-dayโ€ฆ

Amazon to End US Restaurant Delivery Service
June 12, 2019 at 12:41 pm

Amazon.com will end its U.S. food delivery service, Amazon Restaurants, at the end of June, reports Business Insider. Amazon Restaurants launched in Seattle in 2015, and expanded to over 20 markets globally, yet failed to become a top player in the American food delivery space. The service was available only to Amazon Prime members andโ€ฆ

Research Reveals More Collaboration Needed to Support Last-Mile Customer Experience
June 11, 2019 at 11:31 am

U.S. retail sales soared 1.6 percent in March, posting the largest gain in a year-and-a-half and outpacing economistsโ€™ expectations. While growing sales numbers are undoubtedly good news for retailers, consumer expectations around the delivery process are also surging, making it more difficult than ever for retailers to meet customersโ€™ demands. This might not be welcome newsโ€ฆ

Carrier Pricing and Free Delivery: Evaluating the True Cost of Shipping for Retailers
May 31, 2019 at 11:36 am

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Joe Keenan discuss the true cost of shipping for retailers following the recent publication of two articles that dug into the issue, including how retailers could mitigate rising shipping costs. Total Retail contributor Rob Martinez outlines the USPSโ€™ new dimensional pricing and offers strategies forโ€ฆ

FedEx Ground to Offer 7-Day-a-Week Deliveries
May 31, 2019 at 9:31 am

FedEx will become the first of the nationโ€™s big three parcel delivery services to regularly deliver to residences seven days a week, starting in January. FedEx Corp.โ€™s domestic e-commerce workhorse, FedEx Ground, typically shifts to six- or seven-day operations amid a deluge of packages during holiday peak season. This fall the shift to seven daysโ€ฆ

Postal Shippers Beware: USPS Implements New Dimensional Pricing in June
May 23, 2019 at 12:40 pm

The United States Postal Service is changing the way it charges for boxes shipped via Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and other parcel shipping services. Currently, the Postal Service applies a dimensional divisor (DIM) of 194 for boxes that exceed one cubic foot in volume, and only for zones five and above. Effective June 23,โ€ฆ