Drones. Trucks. Cars. Worldwide brick and mortar fulfillment centers. Delivery in 30 to 60 minutes. And, now talk about leasing cargo planes. These sound like strings of strategy planning discussions from UPS, FedEx, and the likes of other logistics companies, right.
Consumer goods suppliers can save millions of dollars by evaluating and improving direct store delivery (DSD) operations — the way that products are ordered, sold, delivered and merchandised — according to a report from Honeywell.
CVS/Caremark appears to be creating a new IT team, one that will bridge the digital divide between marketing and IT as the retailer looks to strengthen its omnichannel efforts.
Analyst Insight: A number of factors are drawing increased attention to the order-to-cash (OTC) process. Achieving a perfect order, one that is filled to completion and arrives at the customer undamaged and properly documented, is under stress from doing new ways of business and increasing customer expectations. - Alex Bajorinas and Jim Morton, both Senior Managers, Ernst & Young LLP
Analyst Insight: Online sales surged last year, and many companies saw their e-commerce sales grow by double digits. This growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, so the good news is that rising rates and revenue for e-commerce are significantly exceeding expectations. But there is bad news too - e-commerce is stressing distribution operations and many companies are having difficulty keeping up. Adopting the right operational practices for order fulfillment is essential for business success. - Kelly Reed, Partner, Tompkins International
Amazon has announced plans to open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Kenosha, Wis., that is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs at the fulfillment center when it opens.
Brick-and-mortar retailers are sweating online competition this holiday season, perhaps more than ever. But it's all upside to UPS. The shipping giant is cashing in both on internet shopping and old-school retailers trying to mimic Amazon.com - shipping inventory around the country in an incessant supply-chain shuffling.