Kohl's, which is opening some in-store Amazon shops, will start accepting returns for the online retailer at some of its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago starting next month.

Logistics providers discuss how they're adjusting to major changes brought about by concerns over the economy, shifts in trade policy, the complexities of the omnichannel, rising customer service demands, and the arrival of a new generation of supply-chain managers.

The cost of global food waste and loss is estimated to be $940bn a year. For businesses, this represents a significant proportion of shrinkage in retail supply chains, and it has a direct impact on companies' triple bottom lines. Does digital hold the solution?

Analyst Insight: You design a product, source it, build it, store it, ship it, and your consumer enjoys it... then what? It is inevitable that at some point the original intended use will be over and the product will reach its end of life. What happens now is a topic that is piquing the interests of many traditional and non-traditional supply-chain players. The challenge lays in how to efficiently reintegrate or disposition these products. - Melissa Hadhazy, associate partner, Infosys Consulting

Analyst Insight: As consumers' relationship with retailers changes, supply chains need to become more agile and responsive to fulfill the promise of an omnichannel world. Wholesale, retail and e-commerce supply chains, which have grown independently over the years, are merging - but significant transformation is necessary to help make omnichannel execution more profitable. - Parag Jategaonkar, performance improvement principal, Ernst & Young LLP

FedEx Supply Chain has announced the launch of FedEx Fulfillment, a service designed to meet the shipping needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to challenge to Amazon's dominance of the e-commerce sector, the company says. FedEx Fulfillment delivers orders across multiple channels, including websites and online marketplaces, and manages inventory for participating retailers.

Retailers prepare for months for the all-important holiday season. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the holiday season can account for as much as 30 percent of an individual retailer's total sales. The NRF also notes that the holiday returns process accounts for about 24 percent of returns for the entire year.

Laws and regulations to eliminate human-rights violations in global supply chains are multiplying. But companies shouldn't consider their current lack of "teeth" as a license to ignore them.