Ever-rising customer-service expectations are roiling the home-delivery business. Chris Sullens, chief executive officer with Marathon Data Systems, talks about what customers want today, and how service providers are working to shrink the time between order and delivery.
Omnichannel retailers are gearing up for a holiday season that will likely find shoppers even more inclined to buy on line -- but not necessarily take delivery at home, says Gregg Aamoth, chief executive officer of POPcodes.
Customers expect e-commerce retailers to provide free shipping and returns. Robert Escobar, vice president of operations with Gwynnie Bee, talks about the challenges that his company faces in meeting those demands.
The focus on "last-mile" delivery has sharpened significantly in recent years. Henrik Moos, founder and chief business development officer of Swipbox, explains why. And he describes the concept of parcel lockers for consumer pickups.
Analyst Insight: Service providers, couriers and retailers have been doing last mile for decades. But times are different now. Consider: omnichannel, Amazon's game-changing free and same-day delivery, and Sears creating an offering service for third parties. The last two years also saw disrupters who were previously unknown enter the logistics market. But traditional transportation technology firms are fighting back. 2015 will show dramatic changes in the market. – Ann Grackin, CEO ChainLink Research