Supply Chain

COVID-19 has accelerated the transformation from in-store to e-commerce shopping, creating significant retail logistics challenges. Even before the pandemic, retailers battled against heavyweights that were able to offer seamless purchasing and rapid order processing. However, despite pressure from consumers, a recent Accenture survey showed that fewer than half of retailers are meeting customer expectations for…

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) late last month announced it has completed the acquisition of Quiet Logistics for approximately $360 million in cash. Quiet Logistics operates a network of in-market fulfillment centers in six cities where workers aided by robots fulfill shipping orders for digital apparel and lifestyle brands such as Mack Weldon, Outdoor Voices and Peloton.…

A projected rise in e-commerce and retail demand for the 2021 holiday shopping season has put Santa’s elves on notice. Spending on online shopping has hit more than $933 billion — up 17.9 percent year-over-year — and brick-and-mortar retail spending will reach nearly $5.15 trillion, a 6.3 percent increase according to the US Economic Forecast 2021.…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Juliana Prather, chief marketing officer of EDITED, the leader in retail intelligence, market strategy and enterprise data. Listen in as Prather discusses her professional background in retail, how EDITED works with retailers, and her take on the current supply chain environment for brands and…

Retailers are hyperfocused on preparing for the holiday rush. In 2020, e-commerce spending in the U.S. was in overdrive, with the pandemic boosting online sales by $183 billion — the equivalent of an extra holiday season in the same year. In 2021, experts predict that e-commerce sales will continue to rise, leaving retailers with the…

Shoppers will likely be greeted by empty shelves or website stock-outs during the 2021 holiday season. It’s a perfect supply chain storm of increased demand and severely constrained supply and labor. Pent-up demand from the pandemic is leading to increases in both online and in-store orders while COVID-19-related restrictions, combined with container shortage, labor shortage,…

If you haven’t started preparing for the 2021 holiday season — whether you’re a shipper, carrier or even a shopper looking to place a few gifts in the hands of loved ones — you’re already behind. Major retailers have already started staffing up to the extent to which they can, with a big emphasis on…

Port authorities will now be allowed to redirect cost savings from existing federally funded projects to help address bottlenecks in the supply chain as holiday shopping ramps up, the White House announced Tuesday. The change — part of the White House's "action plan" — comes as President Biden spoke with chief executives at Walmart, UPS,…

The 2020 holiday shopping season challenged retailers more than any previous peak season. As safety-conscious consumers cautiously flocked to previously less utilized methods that included online shopping; buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS); curbside pickup; home delivery; and more for their seasonal gift-giving needs, retailers had to adapt quickly and scale these capabilities to meet…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Marie Albiges and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published by Total Retail titled, “The Retail Reverse Logistics Reckoning: Brands Cast Eyes to Returns Amid the E-Commerce Swell,” authored by Jeff Cashman, chief operating officer at GreyOrange. While retailers' supply chains were primarily focused on getting goods…