Order Fulfillment

On Apple's earnings call, you probably didn't catch that Apple set a new retail foot traffic record last quarter, what with all the iPad supply fears and Steve Jobs ranting. But they did: more than 74.5 million people went to one of the 317 Apple stores across the world.

U.S. retail sales rose for a third consecutive month in September, posting a stronger-than-expected increase that should fend off fears of a double-dip recession but doesn't signal a strong recovery.

Best Buy makes holiday shopping even easier this year by offering one of the most comprehensive shipping programs in the retail landscape, Store Pickup Plus. The recently launched program serves as an evolution of traditional free shipping promotions, allowing customers to not only avoid shipping fees, but to receive their product more quickly, eliminate concerns about package delivery, increase confidence of product availability and save shopping time by processing payments online.

Understand Web users -- Drive customers to your Website -- Show results. It57;s the name of the game! With this responsibility also comes increasing pressure to prove the effectiveness of your online strategies.

For nearly two years, Amazon has been trying to get manufacturers to adopt “frustration-free packaging” that gets rid of plastic cases and air-bubble wrap — major irritants for consumers and one of Amazon’s biggest sources of customer complaints.

Fifth Gear announces a three-year extension of its relationship with Hallmark Custom Marketing (HCM) supporting Hallmark’s UNICEF partnership through order fulfillment and customer contact center services. Hallmark Custom Marketing has extended its fulfillment contract for UNICEF products with Fifth Gear through the end of 2013.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to total 14.5 million containers for 2010, a 15 percent increase over last year’s unusually low numbers as the economy continues its cautious recovery, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Problem: Pearl Izumi USA, a cross-channel retailer of sports apparel, wanted to bring back its custom clothing business, which had been shuttered nearly eight years ago because it wasn't hitting profit targets.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 16 percent in July compared with the same month a year ago, but double-digit increases seen in recent months should taper offer this fall as retailers cautiously manage their inventories, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Clothing maker Perry Ellis International sees a 10 percent rise in industrywide apparel prices over the next two years amid rising commodity prices and higher labor costs in China. "Prices have to go up at some point. The American consumer will have to pay higher prices... It's only apparel and electronics, the items that keep coming down, everything else in life has come up," Chief Executive George Feldenkreis told the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit in New York.