Supply Chain

Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 7 percent and 9 percent in 2021, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast. Overall, Deloitte’s retail and distribution practice projects that holiday sales will total $1.28 trillion to $1.3 trillion during the November to January timeframe. Deloitte also forecasts that e-commerce sales will grow by 11 percent…

With supply chain news continuing to dominate the media, this upcoming holiday season looks like retailers and brands will again be faced with the challenges of getting their products into the hands of consumers. In the recent past, the “supply chain” was really only important to manufacturers and retailers that needed visibility into where their…

Peak season is looming. eMarketer forecasts that U.S. holiday retail sales will rise to more than $1 trillion, with e-commerce accounting for 18.9 percent of that. To truly succeed each year, preparation should begin the day after peak season’s end the previous year. Proactively address the following five challenges to prepare for a successful peak…

Amazon.com sometimes speaks in mysterious ways. For example, sellers on the platform recently received a message saying, “Effective April 22, 2021, FBA products will no longer be subject to ASIN-level quantity limits. Instead, restock limits will be set at the storage-type level, offering you more flexibility in managing your shipments.” In plain English this meant…

If you're in the retail business, one of your worst nightmares is being stuck with boxes and boxes of unsold inventory taking up space in your warehouse. Wasted stock can be a huge cost to your bottom line and pose serious risks to your business. For eco-conscious brands, a lot of unsold inventory is also…

Like many industries, retailers are dealing with a shortage of labor at every level, from delivery drivers to store associates. As a result, they must often be prepared to do more with fewer resources, including handling irregular deliveries and replenishment schedules as well as managing available inventory for maximum efficiency and sales. Meanwhile, a new…

Walmart said Tuesday it will start farming out its delivery service, using contract workers, autonomous vehicles and other means to transport rival retailers’ products directly to their customers’ homes as fast as just a few hours. The nation’s largest retailer said it will dispatch contract workers from its Spark delivery network, which was launched in…

The coronavirus pandemic has strained supply chains in unprecedented ways and has shed light on what happens to a marketplace when high demand meets limited supply. A recent report stated that customer shopping behavior will be permanently changed (by the pandemic) in ways that will further emphasize digital channels and put customers entirely in control…

If, like me, you’re of a certain age, you’ll be able to remember the first version of the Apple website. It was all text, had an appalling layout, and was light years from today’s sleek offering. Although that was all of 10 years before the first iPhone appeared so we shouldn’t be too hard on…

The supply shock that started in early 2020 due to COVID-19 and the demand shock that followed exposed vulnerabilities in the supply chains of retailers just about everywhere. The challenge for companies going forward will be to make their supply chains more resilient without weakening their competitiveness. Companies can learn from the supply and demand…