Avon reduced inventory by $43M in a push for simplicity — is it enough?

"Choking on complexity," the more than century-old beauty brand is knee-deep in yet another turnaround effort as it prepares to be acquired. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Nov. 5, 2019

Save-A-Lot adds Amazon pickup, returns to St. Louis stores

The addition of Amazon Paycode allows consumers to pick up and pay for Amazon packages using cash.

By Lauren Manning • Nov. 5, 2019

How Nordstrom got a handle on omnichannel fulfillment

As store business shrank and online business grew, Nordstrom and Opex Analytics turned their attention to fulfillment. 

By Amanda Loudin • Oct. 29, 2019

Conquering peak season: 5 tips to optimize holiday order fulfillment

For retailers, the ability to efficiently get products into the hands of consumers after they click "Buy Now" has become a competitive advantage. 

By Johannes Panzer • Oct. 29, 2019

Walmart's last mile around the world

From tricycles to drones, Walmart is casting a wide net to find out how shoppers want to receive their goods.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 29, 2019

Amazon unveils free grocery delivery

Amazon has been focused on streamlining operations recently between Whole Foods and its own grocery properties. 

By Jessica Dumont • Oct. 29, 2019

Black & Decker finds the upside to list 4 tariffs

Black & Decker executives are planning to mitigate a higher percentage of tariff costs in 2020 and build a "very significant cushion" in case of an economic downturn. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 28, 2019

As Nike pledges no to Arctic shipping, Gap, H&M and more sign on

Nike said the decision dovetailed with its Move to Zero sustainability initiative, through which it hopes to achieve zero-waste and zero-carbon operations. 

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 28, 2019

FedEx: 82% of small businesses believe trade is key to economic growth

More than one-third of small business respondents in a study said fees and tariffs impacted them "a great deal."

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 25, 2019

Amazon shipping spend jumps 46% as 1-day costs mount

Transportation makes up the largest portion of the growing cost of one-day shipping, CFO Brian Olsavsky said on the company's third quarter earnings call. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 25, 2019

Rent the Runway shouldered the blame when a software bug hampered fulfillment

Rather than point fingers and "blame" a third party, the company said the disruption was due to a "software issue internally."

By Naomi Eide • Oct. 25, 2019

Target takes on Amazon with enhanced holiday fulfillment, delivery offerings

This peak season, the mass merchant is spending nearly $50 million more on payroll to bulk up customer service and leverage a range of BOPIS, next and same-day delivery options to entice customers.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 24, 2019

Amazon adds pickup counters to GNC, Stage Stores, Health Mart

The pickup counters give Amazon greater delivery network density and eliminate the most complex and expensive part of e-commerce orders: the last yard. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Oct. 23, 2019

Best Buy kicks off peak season with free next-day delivery

As the company heads into peak season competition with Amazon, and other big box retailers, it is looking to leverage its brick and mortar footprint and the growing popularity of buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS) to increase sales.

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 23, 2019

Fabric prepares US micro-fulfillment expansion, partnerships with grocery chains in 2020

The company plans to have roughly 10 micro-fulfillment centers in production next year and a thousand up and running by 2025.

By Jeff Wells • Oct. 23, 2019

Warehouse or store? Picking the wrong place to unpack can cost you

Retailers can see "considerable savings" if they unpack case packs at a distribution center before shipping the product to the final store, though the model creates higher picking and facility labor costs and is incompatible with cross-docking. 

By Matt Leonard • Oct. 22, 2019

Wholesalers concur: Retailers are not open to sharing the tariff burden

"Nobody wants to accept a price increase from the person below them in a supply chain," AAFA EVP Steve Lamar said at the Sourcing Journal Summit in New York City.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 22, 2019

UPS teams up with Stamps.com to reduce friction for shippers

Shippers who source UPS shipping services through a Stamps.com platform can receive up to 55% off of daily rates.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 21, 2019

Walmart launches grocery delivery into customers' homes

Crossing the threshold into the last yard is Walmart's play to dominate last-mile delivery.

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 15, 2019

REI expands online selection with dropshipping

Danner, ECCO and Salomon are among the first brands to participate by shipping orders directly to customers.

By Lisa Rowan • Oct. 11, 2019

UPS partners with Shippo, offers 55% off shipping for online retailers

In addition to discounted shipping and waived surcharges, the collaboration will integrate with Shippo's platform which enables e-tailers to manage orders and track deliveries across multiple sales channels at once. 

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 9, 2019

FedEx partners with Walgreens on returns in preparation for peak season

Customers will be able to have return labels printed and packages shipped from 7,300 participating Walgreens locations.

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 8, 2019

Fulfillment models can make or break retail profits

Fulfilling online orders from a store location had the highest fulfillment cost but the lowest delivery cost, in a recent study.

By Matt Leonard • Oct. 8, 2019

Why subscription boxes aren't just e-commerce as usual

Inventory management and fulfillment strategies differ from e-commerce, and personalization at scale adds new complexity to the model.

By Deborah Abrams Kaplan • Oct. 8, 2019

UPS, Michaels complete rollout of Access Points in 1,100 stores

Customers can opt to ship orders to UPS MyChoice locations in Michaels stores for added convenience and to avoid the risk of "porch pirates" stealing packages from their door step. 

By Morgan Forde • Oct. 8, 2019