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

Explore the Trendline➔

Inventory Management

Read how retailers and brand manufactures are rethinking inventory management as an effective strategy against tariffs.

By Supply Chain Dive staff

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

Walmart, Schneider Electric team up to help suppliers transition to renewable energy

The initiative aims to educate suppliers and help them through conversion — a process Walmart's Senior Director of Sustainability said can be daunting.

By Emma Cosgrove • Sept. 15, 2020

H-E-B jumps into micro-fulfillment

The Texas grocer has tapped Swisslog to build an unspecified number of automated centers to fulfill pickup and delivery orders.

By Sam Silverstein • Sept. 15, 2020

American Eagle stages materials with suppliers to keep inventory lean

For the fall and holiday seasons, the apparel retailer is bringing in a smaller assortment, based on which suppliers require smaller upfront buys to maximize flexibility.

By Emma Cosgrove • Sept. 10, 2020

Walmart pilots drone delivery for groceries with Flytrex

The test program will deliver grocery and household items from Walmart stores to homes in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

By Matt Leonard • Sept. 10, 2020

5 charts show CPG inventory challenges

Stockouts plagued retailers and manufacturers in the early days of the pandemic. Recovery has not been the same across product categories.

By Matt Leonard • Sept. 8, 2020

Whole Foods expands 1-hour pickup to all stores

As e-commerce demand soars during the pandemic, some grocers are automating pickup, adding off-premise lockers and carving out more dedicated space in stores and parking lots.

By Jeff Wells • Updated Oct. 23, 2020

Macy's accelerates fulfillment network consolidation as focus shifts to omnichannel

With Macy's store revitalization plan on hold and losses mounting, the company is leaning on supply chain transformation to improve profitability.

By Emma Cosgrove • Sept. 3, 2020

In-store pick and pack starts with inventory visibility

Nearly three-quarters of retailers consider it a challenge to implement an in-store accept, pick and pack process for online orders, according to a survey of retailers by Forrester.

By Matt Leonard • Sept. 1, 2020

American Eagle takes on pandemic fulfillment challenges with warehouse sort robots

The robots pick orders from bins and place them in a put wall, allowing retailers to handle high e-commerce volumes while maintaining safe distances between workers.

By Craig Guillot • Sept. 1, 2020

Patent Pending: Walmart's plan for trailer prioritization at loading docks

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 • Aug. 28, 2020

Ware2Go, Google partner on 'free and fast' e-commerce shipping

Based on an e-commerce customer's ZIP code, their proximity to nodes in Ware2Go's fulfillment network and real-time inventory availability, Google will automatically display whether an item is available for free one- or two-day shipping.

By Morgan Forde • Aug. 28, 2020

Ulta to evaluate store fleet with omnichannel operations in mind

The retailer is expanding its ship-from-store program to 100 stores to increase fulfillment capacity and speed while "leveraging store labor and inventory," executives said.

By Emma Cosgrove • Aug. 28, 2020

McKinsey: Fashion industry needs deeper supplier collaboration to cut emissions

More than 70% of apparel and footwear emissions originate in the supply chain before most brands take possession of finished goods, according to the firm.

By Emma Cosgrove • Aug. 27, 2020