Articles
Retail
Neiman Marcus Splurges on Digitization
Luxury department store Neiman Marcus is banking on a digital future, investing $85 million to make immediate changes to its supply chain and technology operations after erasing more than $4 billion in debt with a successful bankruptcy. To help improve its digital customer service, the retailer hired Apple veteran Bob Kupbens as its new chief […]
Read MoreOvercoming the Returns Challenge
The world of e-commerce shows no sign of slowing down. As parcel volumes soar and businesses strive to meet customer delivery expectations, returns services can, and have been, easily overlooked. Considering that in some sectors, such as fashion, returns can be as high as 45% and in the United States, customers are 3x more likely […]
Read More
4 New Rules for Retail
While the grocery and home improvement sectors benefited from changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic, apparel and department stores struggled. Consequently, the following new rules will come into play for retailers in 2021, says a Deloitte report: 1. Digital investment should go beyond differentiation. Many retailers have jumped on the digital bandwagon (see chart), […]
Read More
Cross Dock Delivers New Level of Efficiency for Leading Retailer
Leveraging its network of cross dock locations, Hub Group optimized a top retailer’s supply chain, reducing its transportation spend, streamlining inbound operations, and shortening transit times.
Read More
Vertical Focus: Personal Care Products & Cosmetics
What’s In Store? In-store shopping accounted for up to 85% of beauty product sales in most major markets before the pandemic, finds a McKinsey report—even millennials and Gen Zers made almost 60% of their cosmetics purchases in stores (see chart). What will happen to physical beauty product stores in the future? About 30% of premium […]
Read More
Achieving a Sustainable Returns Program
A good returns management program is a sustainability effort in itself. The right approach can improve value recovery, increase efficiency, and lower transport and labor costs, all while reducing your carbon footprint, food and landfill waste, and fossil fuel consumption.
Read More
2021 Winter Reading Guide
Spending more time at home these days? Hunker down and delve into everything from the future of retail to global transportation.
Read More
Revisiting Brand Management Policies
The recent health crisis has increased online sales and expanded the kinds of products shipped to consumers. As consumers, shippers, and retailers get more comfortable with online commerce, the trend away from brick-and-mortar sales will likely continue, even after the health crisis eases.
Read More
IoT, AI, ML: Keeping Innovation in Sight
Supply chain leaders eye up the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to better predict demand, increase efficiency, cut costs, and power growth.
Read More
Reverse Logistics: It’s All Coming Back to Me Now
How to recoup maximum value on a product when the first sale doesn’t work out.
Read More
Everything’s Coming Up Roses
The complex art of floral logistics involves a delicate arrangement of proper packaging, refrigeration, and speed.
Read More
SEKO Partnership Provides Ecommerce Efficiencies for Retailers
Retailer Shein streamlined supply chain operations by leveraging the partnership between Air-City and SEKO, allowing shippers to move express ecommerce orders efficiently across international borders.
Read More
Speed, Reach & Flexibility Are Critical to Supply Chain Success in COVID Era
The pandemic has vastly accelerated the growing digital commerce space. Reports show ecommerce leapt years ahead in progress in just months with spending up 30% from the beginning of March through mid-April 2020. A rapid change in customer behaviors, driven by the pandemic, led to an explosion in social commerce, a faster evolution of omni-channel […]
Read MoreDHL Shares Strategy for Peak Season and Beyond
E-commerce is up 65% year over year, and expected to surge more than 50% during the busiest peak week, according to Chet Paul, senior vice president at DHL Express; Kraig Foreman, president at DHL Supply Chain; and Craig Morris, chief information officer at DHL eCommerce Solutions. In a media call, the DHL execs shared how […]
Read More
Home Improvement on a Winning Streak
The pandemic continues to boost sales for home improvement retailers as consumers spend much of their time at home. Total retail sales in the category were up 11% in July 2020 year over year according to the Department of Commerce (see chart), and consumer spending in the home category soared in April 2020 after stimulus […]
Read MoreMacy’s Parades Digital Lead
Digitally mature retailers better reacted to COVID-19 disruptions, finds a study by tech company Incisiv. Based on performance along the customer journey, the study names the top North American apparel retailers in digital maturity: Overall 1. Macy’s 2. Kohl’s 3. Neiman Marcus 4. Target 5. Nordstrom 6. Ann Taylor 7. Chico’s 8. J.C. Penney Co. […]
Read More
Omnichannel and Supply Chain Work Together for Competitive Advantage
The days of going to a department store to shop for a TV, viewing the options, and making a purchase now seem quaint. The emergence of the internet, smartphones, social media, and other technologies has opened a world of new options for consumers and businesses to review, research, and buy online with ever-increasing delivery choices.
Read MoreWhat’s the Holiday Sales Scenario?
The holiday retail season will play out in one of two ways—a relatively stable year-over-year sales increase of 0% to 1%, or a jump of 2.5% to 3.5%—both of which are lower than prior years, according to Deloitte. Scenario one: Consumers experience growing anxiety about their health and finances. This reinforces the current high savings […]
Read MoreConsumers Set Their Sights on Visibility
With COVID-19 disrupting the traditional retail model and more consumers expecting to find, buy, and receive products wherever and however they desire, the need for retailers to optimize and elevate their supply chain capabilities is imperative for maintaining sales and brand loyalty, finds a survey by enVista. Other key findings in the survey include: 87% […]
Read More5 Must-Take Actions to Prepare for the 2020 Holiday Season
This year has been, and continues to be, unprecedented. Not since the Second World War have global supply chains been so dramatically interrupted. And given the integration of these global supply chains (thanks to the marvels of the integrated circuit) and advances in modern transportation, the disruption caused by COVID-19 is, arguably, unprecedented in modern […]
Read More