Consumer Packaged Goods

European Sportswear Retailer Brings RFID to Smart Fitting Rooms

May 22, 2017

After several months of piloting smart fitting rooms at a single store, a global sports apparel retailer is now installing the technology at 350 of its stores across Eastern Europe. The solution consists of a touchscreen and an RFID reader within each fitting room, as well as software to manage the data and smart watches for employees.

Opinion: Supply Chain Transparency May Be the Next Disruptor

May 22, 2017

Murray Newlands, Forbes Contributor

The "Amazon-Prime Effect" - the notion that everything you order should arrive on your doorstep in two days - has left brands and retailers scrambling to keep up. As consumers' expectations grow and their patience around delivery time shrinks, one tactic businesses use to combat increasing time constraints is transparency.

Target's New Online Strategy: Less Is More

May 22, 2017

The Wall Street Journal

Target Corp., under pressure after issuing a dismal profit warning for the year, is narrowing its focus and rethinking its digital strategy, even as competitors like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. invest heavily to diversify their online offerings.

U.S. Used-Car Glut Is a Dealer's Dream, Automakers' Nightmare

May 22, 2017

The New York Times

Three years ago if a customer walked onto Dan Reel's used car lot seeking a late-model off-lease Ford Escape, his answer was short: tough luck.

Sustainable Packaging No Longer Optional, Retailers Say

May 19, 2017

Environmental Leader

Retailers and manufacturers have dictated that sustainable packaging is no longer just "nice to have," but is something they expect from the packaging industry, according to a new study from Smithers Pira.

The New Retail: Lessons From China for the West

May 19, 2017

Boston Consulting Group

Imagine being in the middle of Times Square, surrounded by flashing lights, fast-talking vendors, street performers, live music, noisy traffic jams, and endless other distractions. Now imagine you're online and surrounded by the same energetic chaos. Welcome to China's digital marketplace, where shopping is an adventure - a fire hose of rapidly changing content, offers, products, colors, and choices. For Western shoppers accustomed to simple, transactional online buying, it's a culture shock.

U.S. Industrial Production Rises Most in More Than Three Years

May 19, 2017

Bloomberg

American factories flexed some muscle in April, boosting output by the most since February 2014 in broad fashion. Along with gains at mines and utilities, total industrial output was also the strongest in more than three years, Federal Reserve data showed this week.

Entrepreneurs, Part 1: Mythology and Reality

May 19, 2017

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

The entrepreneur has taken on near-mythic status in modern-day society. But who is this individual really?

Can Coach Create an American Fashion Empire?

May 18, 2017

The New York Times

In 2000, a company called Pegasus Apparel Group was founded with private equity money and a big idea: Buy a group of fashion brands based in the United States and create a homegrown version of the major European luxury conglomerates.

This Startup is the Airbnb of Warehouses

May 18, 2017

Bloomberg

A Seattle startup has come out of nowhere to offer online merchants something even Amazon doesn't: overnight ground delivery to nearly anyone in the country.

Consumer Packaged Goods

The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the consumer packaged goods industry. Learn how consumer packaged goods companies and their suppliers around the world are managing the flow of products across all channels of the enterprise. Experts sound off on forecasting and demand planning, supply-chain visibility, logistics outsourcing, inventory optimization, transportation management, warehouse management, supply-chain security, corporate social responsibility and more.