Retail (134)
Trade War could Affect Holiday Season
- Monday, 07 October 2019
- Retail
- Written by Danielle Loughnane
Have you told your friends that this is the year you’re going to start your holiday shopping early? Chances are you made this same vow last year, the year before, and possibly even the year before that – only to wait until the last minute to pick up presents for your friends and family. With trade wars looming it may actually be beneficial to start your shopping now – as businesses predict steep prices for the holiday season. The products that will be affected are those manufactured and shipped from China. Included in those products are everything from toys and apparel to electronics.
Read more...After abandoning air express deliveries, FedEx will also stop ground deliveries for Amazon
- Monday, 02 September 2019
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
FedEx is bringing its ground shipping contract with Amazon to an end. Despite working together for years on ground and air deliveries, Amazon is now building its own delivery network. Amazon’s go-it-alone strategy is the main reason why partners such as FedEx are moving away. Over the years, Amazon has shown its intention to compete with the leading players in the logistics industry. This means that it will become a direct competitor to FedEx in the coming days. In fact, Amazon is now building its infrastructure which includes cargo planes, trucks and is also investing in local delivery drivers. The move by Amazon to compete directly with its former business partner is evidence of tension that has been building up between the two long-time partners.
Read more...Walmart AI IRL
- Wednesday, 08 May 2019
- Retail
- Written by Danielle Loughnane
Last week Walmart opened its first AI-powered store in Levittown, New York. Called the Intelligent Retail Lab or, IRL; the store is the first of its kind. Exploring how AI technology can help stores like Walmart with everyday tasks like restocking; the IRL will monitor and track data that will give engineers the statistics they need to improve every facet of the store.
Read more...How Walmart is using Robots
- Friday, 03 May 2019
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
For some years now, robots have been creeping slowly into the retail industry. It is due to the advantages that they offer that many organizations are investing in them. Walmart is one of the companies that has embraced robots in its activities. The company has been adding thousands of robots to its stores across the US to carry out various functions most of which are repeatable or predictable tasks. Being the world’s largest retailer, Walmart is always looking for methods to improve service delivery, enhance customer experience and minimize the cost of production. Discussed below are areas where Walmart is using drones.
Read more...How Did Your Supply Chain Fail Your Black Friday Efforts?
- Monday, 26 November 2018
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
Black Friday 2018 is in the rear view mirror and whatever your results are they depended largely on the state of your supply chain. So now is the time to take a look at what happened while there still may be a few days to make adjustments before the final days of the retail shopping year.
Amazon Go - It’s all about the back end
- Monday, 22 January 2018
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
The first consumer available Amazon Go store opened and every grocery cashier is looking at their paycheck. Well that’s probably an overstatement and in fact Amazon has been testing its Go concept on its own employees since December of 2016 and in development and internal testing for about five years, so the concept is far from new. And while the general news is all about consumers being able to walk out the door without saying hi to a cashier the real story is all about inventory and supply.
Managing the supplier relationship makes business better
- Monday, 15 January 2018
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
The relationship between supplier and customer is critical to both parties. But it most often falls on the customer to manage that relationship because while the supplier has plenty at stake, the customer has their own customers to consider. And if the product being delivered to the end customer falls short of expectation in any way, the customer will be the first to feel the impact. Supplier relationship management (SRM) is no longer just a ‘feel good’ part of the business. It’s critical and is being treated as such, and automated to a large extent. Having fast and accurate evaluation of supplier performance and acting in positive ways to either assure stability or taking quick action to avoid problems needs to be at the top of the list for companies that want to assure the best results for their own customers Here are four areas to pay attention to when managing the SRM.
Online Holiday Shoppers May Break Distribution Channels
- Monday, 27 November 2017
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
Early results from 2017 holiday shopping show big increases in spending. As of this writing brick and mortar results are still preliminary with Cyber Monday and weekend online purchases still not tallied. But a survey conducted by Voxware indicates this year’s shoppers have higher expectations than in previous years. And they want flawless delivery in record times. Will the increased activity and inflated expectations dampen shoppers’ confidence in online ordering when they count on expeditious delivery the most?
Reverse logistics will trash your inventory plans
- Tuesday, 12 September 2017
- Retail
- Written by Super User
It’s the 4th quarter of the year when retailers are finalizing their stock in anticipation of the holiday season. Historical trends set the stage for quantities, locations, and pricing but a major shift in how consumers consider their own purchase strategies will play havoc with retailers. The problem is with product returns and how consumers now consider their purchases to be temporary.
Retail by the App
- Monday, 01 February 2016
- Retail
- Written by Scott Koegler
Retail drives a big portion of the EDI traffic along the supply chain. Whether it’s online retail or brick and mortar retail, the issues are the same. But let’s face it… sometimes it’s just easier to find the product you’re looking for by using a search engine online rather than wandering aimlessly through the aisles of a big box store. Increasingly, retailers are supplementing the in-store experience with apps on shoppers’ mobile devices.
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