Supply Chain
March 22, 2019 at 1:16 pm
Rent the Runway, the online service that provides designer dress and accessory rentals, announced on Thursday a $125 million investment co-led by Franklin Templeton Investments and Bain Capital Ventures that values the company at $1 billion. The financing is the largest funding round Rent the Runway has raised to date, and will bring total equity raised to…
March 18, 2019 at 11:39 am
How does the delivery experience impact customer loyalty? According to recent MetaPack research of more than 3,500 consumers in North America and Europe, if retailers get the basics right, enable customers to curate their own deliveries, and meet their needs and interests quickly, customers will reward them with long-term commitment and repeat orders. Findings of…
March 14, 2019 at 10:32 am
As 2019 continues, many retailers are preparing for a post-season pause and an off-peak lull. However, others must plan for peak periods that go beyond the traditional holiday season. Different types of companies experience seasonal peaks at different times of the year, and even “micro-peaks” throughout the year. Whether, for example, it’s New Year’s galvanizing…
March 11, 2019 at 11:14 am
In part one of this series, I looked at how retailers can and should prepare to forward-buy inventory, the pros and cons of the practice, and the factors (i.e., inflation, tariffs) that led the industry to this point. The Tariff Effect Technology is the only way to effectively gauge demand volatility, react and re-plan for…
March 8, 2019 at 2:56 pm
In a keynote presentation earlier this week at Shoptalk in Las Vegas, Art Peck, president and CEO of Gap Inc., detailed four key areas that retailers must not be willing to compromise in order to continually meet rising customer expectations and drive profitable growth. Coincidentally, Peck was on stage a mere four days after Gap…
March 7, 2019 at 1:03 pm
The success of a retailer has always hinged on its relationship with consumers, driving brand loyalty, repeat store visits and ultimately sales. So retailers have always set strategies that aim to provide optimal service for customers. In today’s increasingly e-commerce-driven and multichannel environment, retailers are shifting their strategies — with the same goal of providing…
March 5, 2019 at 1:29 pm
"Buy low, sell high" … If you took anything away from any Economics class, that’s probably it. Now that President Trump’s import tariffs have pushed inflation to the highest level in six years, many retailers and distributors are putting that strategy into play. In cases where suppliers pre-announce a price increase or promotion on a…
February 28, 2019 at 8:47 am
Four key factors can help online entrepreneurs decide if a 3PL will be a good fit for the next chapter in their company’s success.
February 25, 2019 at 3:05 pm
The United States is planning to delay additional tariffs on Chinese goods that were scheduled to begin on March 1, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump cited "substantial progress" in bilateral talks between the U.S. and China. As a result, the president said he would suspend the…
February 19, 2019 at 11:24 am
The trade war with China has been cited as a primary cause of much of the recent economic volatility, from the stock market dive last fall to fluctuations in oil prices. While it's clear that tariffs are creating some level of instability as companies and investors try to guess what will happen next, many retailers…
