Shipping
February 24, 2017 at 11:44 am
The holiday season is always an exciting time for retailers as they experience a boom in new customers and revenue. However, with the large spike in sales also comes the potential for a large amount of returns. So, what can retailers do to combat an increase in returns? As business problems vary and become more…
February 20, 2017 at 11:25 am
Over the weekend, Amazon.com quietly reduced its free two-day shipping minimum rate for non-Prime subscribers to $35. Amazon confirmed the change on its shipping guidelines and options page. Amazon's free shipping rate has gone up and down over the years. The free shipping minimum has been as low as $25 in the past, and was…
February 10, 2017 at 11:00 am
L.L.Bean is reconsidering its generous shipping and return policies in a move to cut costs. L.L.Bean currently offers free shipping on everything, and its "satisfaction" guarantee is so liberal that it's led to abuse of the return policy. Company officials said they will have more to say later this year about shipping and efforts to…
January 31, 2017 at 11:44 am
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced today that it's ending its ShippingPass delivery subscription pilot and offering free two-day shipping on more than 2 million items without a membership program. The retailer is also lowering the minimum purchase required for free shipping to $35 from $50. Items shipped to stores have no minimum price threshold. Wal-Mart also offers same-day store…
January 27, 2017 at 12:05 pm
Amazon.com has begun shipping products from its Chinese merchant partners to its U.S. warehouses via ocean freighters, according to The Wall Street Journal. In this arrangement, Amazon acts a freight forwarder, where it doesn’t own ships or employ crews, but acts as a logistics provider and organizer for carriers that do own those vessels. It…
January 17, 2017 at 9:12 am
Consumers today are better informed and more selective about the products they purchase than ever before. Armed with smartphones and social media, shoppers can research products on-the-go and select items that best fit their needs. According to a recent RichRelevance study, nearly three-quarters of all consumers, and 84 percent of millennials, use their mobile phones…
January 11, 2017 at 9:31 am
As consumer demand increases, whether it's for a specific product or expedited shipping, smart retailers are rethinking their approach and looking to find ways to optimize their fulfillment operations. Partnering with new providers can enable new capabilities (e.g., same-day delivery or in-store pick up) and break through traditional organizational boundaries that separate digital channels and…
January 4, 2017 at 10:09 am
UPS is preparing for National Returns Day, happening tomorrow (Jan. 5). According to the company’s website, UPS expects to ship back 1.3 million returns packages to retailers on Thursday, and will handle about 5.8 million returns packages throughout the first full week of January. This means big business for UPS and other parcel services like…
January 3, 2017 at 9:49 am
UPS recently announced it will be changing its dimensional pricing rules following a similar change from FedEx. Effective Jan. 8, the dimensional divisor will be reduced from 166 to 139 for all packages over one cubic foot, or 1,728 cubic inches. Packages below this threshold will continue to be subject to the current dimensional weight…
December 23, 2016 at 11:06 am
This holiday season has been busier than ever. Cyber Monday beat Adobe predictions that consumers will spend $3.36 billion. Amazon.com launched its Black Friday Deals Store on Nov. 1, a full 24 days before actual Black Friday. Consumers seem to have already redefined “holiday shopping season,” with Narvar tracking pages showing 30 percent higher clickthrough…
