Low interest rates, healthy consumer spending and strong e-commerce are forming good conditions for industrial and logistics real estate growth in 2017, says JLL, an investment management firm that offers real estate services. Potential investment in infrastructure and continued company expansion are also expected to fuel demand for warehouses and distribution centers despite global economic uncertainty.
Along with the projected increase in holiday spending this season, especially e-commerce, major carriers are all expecting significant double-digit growth in parcel volume before the end of the year.
A conversation with retail industry thought leaders about how they're adjusting to the age of the omnichannel, and providing consumers with multiple options for ordering, picking up and receiving deliveries in a timely, efficient fashion.
The world's largest designer and retailer of maternity apparel saw the need to revamp its warehouse and fulfillment systems to reflect the modern-day needs of omnichannel customers. A brand new, automated facility was the result.
Mondelez International Inc., trying to adapt as more shoppers buy food outside of traditional grocery stores, is diving deeper into online retail with a holiday-season website that is selling tins of Oreos directly to consumers.
With high-tech purchases expected to account for a major portion of consumer holiday spending this year, UPS has launched a study ("How to Click with High-Tech Online Shoppers") to help retailers gain insights into high-tech shoppers. According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), 68 percent of consumers - roughly 170 million people - plan to purchase technology gifts this holiday season.
Year over year, Target says it's surpassed expectations for 2016 thanks to investments in inventory data. Although the third quarter saw a 0.2-percent decline in sales from last year, its comparable digital channel sales grew 26 percent over last year.
The European Commission has unveiled a series of measures to improve the Value Added Tax (VAT) environment for e-commerce businesses in the E.U. The proposals will allow consumers and companies, in particular start-ups and SMEs, to buy and sell goods and services more easily online, the European Commission says.
Wu Haishan was at Princeton studying how schools of fish swim together when the crowd behavior of a much bigger group grabbed his attention: his 1.35 billion fellow Chinese. It was Lunar New Year back home in 2014, and Baidu, operator of the country's biggest search engine, had created an animation showing all the trips the Chinese had made during the holiday, which demographers say is the largest annual human migration anywhere. Wu, who'd seen the animation, soon joined Baidu as a data scientist in Beijing. With the company's vast amounts of user location information, he's come up with ingenious ways to measure economic activity.
After launching an e-commerce logistics network in mid-October, WCA Ltd. has seen more than 100 logistics companies apply for membership. Called WCA eCommerce, the network allows member companies to trade directly with each other, to build volumes and to strengthen business ties. After launching an e-commerce logistics network in mid-October, WCA Ltd. has seen more than 100 logistics companies apply for membership. Called WCA eCommerce, the network allows member companies to trade directly with each other, to build volumes and to strengthen business ties.
The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the e-commerce/omnichannel industry — which consists of companies engaged in internet retailing, including those with auxiliary brick-and-mortar stores. Learn how e-commerce/omnichannel 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.
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