How Cooperative Supply Chains Are Transforming Retail and Logistics
This blog has been adapted from a talk given at the Leaders in Logistics: Last Mile event. In the past, meeting up with friends meant setting a specific time and place and hoping everyone showed up as planned. In today’s world, we continuously update one…
5 Steps for Retailers to Optimize Marketplace Returns and Protect Their Brand
In our last marketplaces post, we covered why many retailers are establishing marketplaces for third-party sellers to offer their products through. The opportunities for growth are undeniable, but there are challenges to overcome to maximize the marketplace approach. Foremost among them is the question of…
Why Retailer-Owned Marketplaces are Taking Over – and What to Watch Out For
The number of retailer-owned third-party marketplaces, in which retailers list products from other sellers within their platform or website, has risen over the past few years. Many big-name retailers now have their own marketplace platforms, including Tesco, Boots, Superdrug, B&Q, and The Range in the…
Retailers Beware: Returns Fraud on the Rise As Criminals Get More Creative
Returns already have a significant impact on retailers’ bottom line. National Retail Federation (NRF) data reveals that for every $1 billion in sales, retailers incur an average of $145 million in merchandise returns. To make matters worse, returns fraud is also on the rise. Last…
Are You Serving Today’s Shoppers on Yesterday’s Technology?
Category management has reached an inflection point. In a volatile context characterized by rapidly shifting customer demands and expectations, rising prices, strained margins, ongoing supply chain instability, and increasing fulfillment complexity, getting the right product into the right place at exactly the right time is…
From Aisle to AI: How CPGs Can Conquer Demand Variability
Extreme demand volatility and unprecedented supply chain disruptions make it tough for many manufacturers to get the demand-supply balance right. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies face especially difficult forecasting and demand planning challenges. Every day, CPG planners must contend with the complexities of omni-channel sales…
7 Tactics to Drive Self-Service Parcel Drop-Off Adoption
Self-service solutions offer carriers great opportunities to expand out-of-home (OOH) delivery networks, provide automated journeys, and deliver a great customer experience while reducing staff dependency in pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) locations. While parcel lockers serve a dual purpose in automating both delivery and returns, when…
Parcel Lockers Versus Parcel Kiosks: Which Is Best for Parcel Drop-Off?
Self-service solutions have become a priority for parcel carriers looking to improve efficiency and customer experience in out-of-home locations. Automated journeys deliver a great customer experience while reducing staff dependency. Additionally, these solutions allow carriers to expand their out-of-home networks into new locations such as…
5 Ways To Make Your Returns Process More Profitable
Returns are a core part of e-commerce. Customers will order the wrong items, either on purpose or by accident. It happens and will continue to happen – as long as e-commerce exists, so will returns. Returns are currently one of the biggest issues in e-commerce,…
Intelligent Rebalancer: React and Recover from Disruptions
In a previous blog post, I discussed the challenges planning and execution teams face in responding to increasing disruptions. From extreme weather to port closures, disruptions all too frequently upset these teams’ carefully defined plans for getting inventory from Point A to Point B —…