Target builds replenishment, fulfillment capacity as digital sales grow 155%

For peak season, the retailer is cross-training at least 50% of in-store team members to support fulfillment work.

By Emma Cosgrove • Nov. 18, 2020

Ship from store makes sense in a pandemic. Does it make sense long term?

Making the fulfillment method work requires physical changes and a view of inventory down to the SKU level. 

By Jen A. Miller • Nov. 17, 2020

The implications of shipping direct to consumer

On top of high costs, fast and free delivery expectations, and returns, brands also put customer retention at risk by forfeiting control over the last mile.

By Caroline Jansen • Nov. 16, 2020

Walmart adds 'pop-up' direct-to-consumer fulfillment capacity at 42 distribution centers

The model provides flexibility to the retailer's fulfillment capabilities, allowing it to increase capacity when it's experiencing peak-level volume and scale down when demand dissipates.

By Matt Leonard • Nov. 13, 2020

Delays, surcharges and returns: Holiday shipping headaches have just begun

In a season expected to produce more than $190 billion from online sales alone, retailers are pulling out all the stops to keep up with demand.

By Caroline Jansen • Nov. 9, 2020

XPO: Early peak boosts last mile, supply chain outsourcing

Revenue for the 3PL's logistics business grew 5% YoY, which it credited to e-commerce growth and omnichannel fulfillment.

By Matt Leonard • Nov. 6, 2020

Sealed Air, packaging suppliers shift to serve e-commerce 'mega trend'

Businesses said they've seen increased e-commerce traffic as a result of the pandemic, and they expect some of that volume to stick.

By Matt Leonard • Nov. 4, 2020

Demand volatility is the supply chain disruptor of 2020

The pandemic is still the dominant force on global economies, but leaders say supply is no longer the top problem.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 30, 2020

Walmart launches test stores to further blend tech and in-store ops

The prototype locations will allow the retailer to quickly experiment with ways to make fulfillment more efficient and move in-store inventory online.

By Ben Unglesbee • Oct. 29, 2020

Supply chain visibility is 'awfully low,' but improving it can aid operations goals

A recent survey found that 40% of supply chain leaders plan to increase their investment in real-time visibility, which one expert said could help with omnichannel and forecasting.

By Matt Leonard • Oct. 27, 2020

Mattel, Hasbro play catch-up after demand for board games, toys surges

Executives from the toy giants say retailers are keeping inventories tight for Q4, putting the onus to meet demand on suppliers.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 27, 2020

Coca-Cola works with bottlers to convert operations as it cuts 200 product lines

A dedicated team has largely finished SKU-cut decisions, and changes at bottling plants will roll out over the next year.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 26, 2020

Holiday returns 2020: Online shopping, returns higher than ever

Holiday shopping is always a big time for returns, but shifts in shopping habits during the COVID-19 pandemic are raising questions about what holiday returns will look like this year.

By Ken Bays VP Product Development, Inmar Intelligence • Oct. 26, 2020

Retailers face operational, logistical hurdles in pandemic-driven switch to ship from store

Retailers scrambled to change their fulfillment operations as open stores figured out ways to get their inventory to online shoppers.

By Matt Leonard • Oct. 20, 2020

FedEx, Happy Returns partner on 'return bars,' streamline reverse logistics

Happy Returns has quadrupled its number of drop off locations with the addition of more than 2,000 FedEx Office locations.

By A.B. Brown • Oct. 20, 2020

US, EU buyers canceled $16B in apparel purchase orders in the spring: report

A 49% drop in apparel exports to the U.S. between April and June consisted largely of finished or in-progress goods, meaning suppliers had already fronted the cost of materials and labor, according to the report.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 13, 2020

Sam's Club adds 2,000 permanent supply chain workers, launches ship-from-store for peak

The company expects approximately one-fifth of online orders to ship from Sam's Club locations.

By Emma Cosgrove • Oct. 8, 2020

Patent Pending: Toyota's plan to manage autonomous cross docking

Supply chain innovators apply to patent what they see as important tools for the future. Sometimes they're brilliant. Sometimes they're funny.

By Matt Leonard • Oct. 8, 2020

H&M plans to scale machine learning to bolster logistics, forecasting

The retailer is building a platform called Yggdrasil, which will give teams across the organization access to centralized data.

By Roberto Torres • Oct. 6, 2020

Bed Bath & Beyond, Shipt partner on same-day delivery ahead of peak

The retailer will use third-party delivery services Shipt and Instacart to grow its omnichannel presence and delivery options.

By A.B. Brown • Oct. 5, 2020

Meet the suppliers in Walmart's virtual open call

Submissions to participate in the annual event grew 44% over last year.

By Gary Wollenhaupt • Oct. 1, 2020

Target to double holiday staffing for same-day services

The retailer said demand for its same-day fulfillment options quadrupled in the first half of 2020.

By Ben Unglesbee • Sept. 25, 2020

Target's unified inventory across channels key to its evolution, supply chain chief says

The strategy is the "anchor" and the "catalyst" for Target's unique transition to store-centric omnichannel fulfillment, Arthur Valdez Jr. said at the virtual CSCMP Edge conference.

By Emma Cosgrove • Sept. 23, 2020

RBC: Amazon Logistics' planned 2020 growth exceeds previous 3 years combined

Amazon grows the number and size of delivery stations, the facilities closest to consumers, as it focuses on capacity-building and speedy last-mile delivery.

By Matt Leonard • Sept. 21, 2020

Walmart uses AI to predict demand

The retailer has adopted a strategy to rapidly develop technology, aiming to get tools into testing within a few weeks.

By Sam Silverstein • Sept. 17, 2020