Coronavirus-driven online order spikes challenge grocery supply chains

Amazon Fresh and Prime Now have experienced significant delivery delays, while Instacart’s sales growth rate has increased tenfold over the past three days.

By Jeff Wells • March 3, 2020

Execs say in-house logistics made JD.com more nimble in coronavirus response

JD has created an internal task force to manage the crisis response, deployed human and autonomous capacity to facilitate the delivery of crucial supplies and waived fees for some suppliers and sellers on the JD.com site.

By Emma Cosgrove • March 3, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

Peak season management

Higher peak season surcharges are one risk for shippers to manage this year.

By Supply Chain Dive staff

Wayfair is all in on logistics

Executives insist 2020 is the year Wayfair's logistics investments will show their worth.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 28, 2020

Gartner: Circular supply chain investments must focus on reverse logistics

Seventy percent of supply chain leaders plan to invest in new technologies, from manufacturing to delivery, to achieve circularity by mid-2021.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 27, 2020

Home Depot opened a dozen last-mile facilities with more than 100 to come

Home Depot's multiyear $1.2 billion supply chain upgrade that includes dozens of new facilities is "just getting going," said CEO Craig Menear. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 26, 2020

Inaccurate maps cost logistics companies $6B: survey

Even small problems can result in major losses for logistics companies, especially as e-commerce puts more delivery trucks on city streets.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 11, 2020

FedEx to transfer some Express parcels to Ground for last mile

The aim is to improve parcel density and cost particularity for residential deliveries, FedEx said. 

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 10, 2020

Nuro's autonomous delivery vehicle cleared to hit the road

The company will begin public road testing with 5,000 of its R2 units in Houston over the coming weeks, carrying consumer products, groceries and restaurant orders.

By Kristin Musulin • Feb. 7, 2020

JD Logistics deploys autonomous shuttles, drones for last-mile deliveries in coronavirus quarantine zones

The technologies minimize human contact, and JD Logistics has provided its employees in the area with masks, body suits and other emergency safety gear.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 7, 2020

How online order fulfillment is changing grocery in 3 charts

Meeting the tight deadlines consumers desire has pushed grocers to get creative with fulfillment.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 6, 2020

Online grocery forecast increases to $143B by 2025

FMI and Nielsen updated their projections due to an uptick in pickup, two-hour delivery, expanded services and a surge in Amazon Prime memberships.

By Krishna Thakker • Feb. 3, 2020

Amazon shipping costs continue to climb with no end in sight

CEO Jeff Bezos said the number of items available for one-day Prime shipping quadrupled year-over-year in Q4.

By Emma Cosgrove • Jan. 30, 2020

UPS and Waymo partner on self-driving parcel pickup

Waymo's autonomous vans will pick up parcels from UPS stores in the Phoenix metro area and deliver them to nearby UPS sorting facilities.

By Morgan Forde • Jan. 30, 2020

Transplace forecasts increase in LTL contract rates

Now that Class 8 orders are slowing, trucking supply and demand could approach equilibrium and result in rate changes for shippers. 

By Morgan Forde • Jan. 29, 2020

Warehouse market will loosen by 2021 as supply catches up with demand, report finds

Cold-storage, last-mile, in-fill spaces and multi-story warehouses near ports and population centers will be the most in-demand formats, according to Cushman & Wakefield​.

By Emma Cosgrove • Jan. 27, 2020

Amazon, DHL, Ikea, others join electric vehicle alliance

The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance members plan to electrify their fleets within the next five to 10 years.

By Morgan Forde • Jan. 23, 2020

E-commerce deliveries will overrun cities in 1 to 3 years

The World Economic Forum argues the best path forward is to build portfolios of solutions that improve congestion, emissions and unit cost of deliveries. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Jan. 23, 2020

Amazon lets 3rd party sellers use FedEx Ground for Prime shipments after peak season ban

The decision comes after Amazon removed the option for sellers to ship with FedEx Ground and Home in December 2019 over concerns about late holiday shipments.

By Morgan Forde • Jan. 15, 2020

Robotic micro-fulfillment startup Fabric wants to help NYC retailers compete with Amazon

Fabric’s service will enable retailers and brands to compete directly with Amazon Prime Now and Target's same-day service once it gets up to speed.

By Emma Cosgrove • Jan. 13, 2020

25% of small firms say Amazon, Walmart drive shipping strategy: report

The "Amazonification" of retail, driving consumer expectations toward faster and seamless delivery, has become a struggle for smaller firms hoping to keep pace, a report from uShip found.

By Morgan Forde • Jan. 9, 2020

JB Hunt builds 'big and bulky' last-mile capacity with acquisition

The RDI acquisition marks the third similar deal for J.B. Hunt in three years. "We will be breaking out this channel in 2020," said CEO Roberts in October. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Jan. 3, 2020

FedEx will cut air freight capacity after 50% margin loss

The carrier will delay many nonessential capital expenditures, without pulling back on seven-day service, in-sourcing SmartPost volume or expanding FedEx Freight service into consumer delivery, CEO Fred Smith said.

By Emma Cosgrove • Dec. 18, 2019

Amazon bans 3rd-party sellers from using FedEx Ground to ship Prime orders

Amazon cited a "decline in performance" across FedEx Ground and Home services, blaming the carrier for delivery delays this peak season. The ban will last until performance improves.

By Morgan Forde • Dec. 16, 2019

Package deal: What holiday delivery can tell us about the future of retail

Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day on record in the United States. But someone has to deliver all those products. 

By Kaarin Moore • Dec. 16, 2019

Amazon Logistics parcel volume will surpass UPS and FedEx by 2022, Morgan Stanley says

Morgan Stanley's estimates are not predicated on Amazon's build-out of a shipping service catering to parcels originating from sites other than Amazon e-commerce platform, but the researchers know that is coming too.  

By Emma Cosgrove • Dec. 13, 2019