Costco brings big and bulky delivery in-house with $1B acquisition

The retailer has contracted out large-parcel deliveries to Innovel over the past five years. But as its main client, Sears, began to decline, Costco saw an opportunity to buy. 

By Morgan Forde • March 18, 2020

IGA looks to China operations for coronavirus guidance

Chinese supermarkets stretched to the limit by the crisis offer a glimpse of the challenges and solutions that grocers in the U.S. face.

By Sam Silverstein • March 16, 2020

Dollar General to double fresh distribution assets in 2020

After the first year of building capacity, the retailer is seeing the returns it was looking for in taking on the difficult and asset-heavy task of insourcing fresh and frozen distribution. 

By Emma Cosgrove • March 13, 2020

What tech and metrics do you need for omnichannel?

A modern order management system will have most of the data needed to measure omnichannel success. However, some operations will require more creativity.

By Matt Leonard • March 9, 2020

Hy-Vee brings online order fulfillment back to stores

The grocer will shut down its four Aisles Online fulfillment centers the week of March 23, according to a company spokesperson.

By Jessica Dumont • March 9, 2020

House of Representatives launches Congressional Supply Chain Caucus

The bipartisan caucus will focus on policies to address supply chain challenges related to manufacturing, trade, delivery and resiliency.

By Morgan Forde • March 6, 2020

Costco: It could take weeks to reach routine supply chain operations

The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting multiple parts of Costco​'s supply chain, not just its procurement and in-store operations.

By Matt Leonard • March 6, 2020

Burlington ditches e-commerce, streamlines inventory in push for operational agility

New CEO Michael O'Sullivan said he will demand more flexibility from supply chain teams to increase agility in case sales falter.

By Emma Cosgrove • March 6, 2020

H&M pilots supply chain service Treadler to improve industry sustainability

Treadler aims to guide smaller clothing brands through sustainable product development, sourcing, production and logistics. 

By S.L. Fuller • March 4, 2020

Target's tech for store-based fulfillment operations is ready to scale

Machine learning and robotics will allow Target to fulfill digital orders from stores and avoid stockouts, executives detailed in an investor presentation.

By Emma Cosgrove • March 4, 2020

Levi's CEO: Reducing China operations during trade war mitigating coronavirus impact

The company is also keeping an eye on the virus' spread to Europe where it could affect another key segment of its production and supply base.

By Morgan Forde • March 3, 2020

Wayfair is all in on logistics

Executives insist 2020 is the year Wayfair's logistics investments will show their worth.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 28, 2020

Walmart joins store and online buying after decades of siloed operations

The move to unify buying across delivery channels demonstrates that omnichannel options are widely available to the consumer, but they are still making their way through the organizations that orchestrate them.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 27, 2020

Gartner: Circular supply chain investments must focus on reverse logistics

Seventy percent of supply chain leaders plan to invest in new technologies, from manufacturing to delivery, to achieve circularity by mid-2021.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 27, 2020

Home Depot opened a dozen last-mile facilities with more than 100 to come

Home Depot's multiyear $1.2 billion supply chain upgrade that includes dozens of new facilities is "just getting going," said CEO Craig Menear. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 26, 2020

Walmart launches fulfillment service for 3rd-party marketplace sellers

According to top executives, fulfillment services are as much about driving in-demand products to Walmart.com as they are about driving additional revenue from its existing e-commerce infrastructure. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 25, 2020

Adidas, H&M, Ikea lead on sustainable cotton sourcing

The Sustainable Cotton Ranking evaluated the companies, looking for policies that firmly direct more sustainable cotton sourcing, followthrough on those policies and the internal traceability available to benchmark improvement.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 20, 2020

Advance Auto Parts credits WMS, distribution upgrades for Q4 margin boost

The upgrades are part of a long-term supply chain and IT strategy where the majority of potential margin growth in the near future won't be dependent on sales but on internal optimization, executives said. 

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 19, 2020

Walmart boosts stores' role in e-commerce fulfillment

The retailer will increase e-commerce fulfillment from stores in 2020, but isn't committing to just one strategy. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 19, 2020

Modell's works with vendors, landlords to avoid bankruptcy

Mitchell Modell said the retailer has hired restructuring advisers and is turning to vendors and landlords to see it through a rough patch.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 12, 2020

Under Armour forecasts up to $60M revenue hit from coronavirus disruptions

CEO Patrik Frisk expects "significant material impact both financially and operationally" on the company's full-year results, but putting hard numbers on the disruption is tough without a clear picture of scale or duration. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 12, 2020

NRF: Coronavirus could cause 13% import drop at US ports

Before the outbreak, the National Retail Federation predicted February imports would be 1.54 million TEUs. The forecast has slid to 1.41 million.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 11, 2020

Flexible plastic makes up 28% of global packaging: report

PET bottles and flexible plastic are lightweight, easily customizable and cheap to manufacture, the association wrote in its "2019 Global Packaging Trends" report.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 10, 2020

FedEx to transfer some Express parcels to Ground for last mile

The aim is to improve parcel density and cost particularity for residential deliveries, FedEx said. 

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 10, 2020

JD Logistics deploys autonomous shuttles, drones for last-mile deliveries in coronavirus quarantine zones

The technologies minimize human contact, and JD Logistics has provided its employees in the area with masks, body suits and other emergency safety gear.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 7, 2020