Shipping

Despite record levels of inflation and rising interest rates, there’s good news for retailers: holiday spending was forecasted to be healthy. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), holiday retail sales in the U.S. during November and December were expected to increase 6 percent to 8 percent from 2021 levels to between $942.6 billion and…

The e-commerce industry is heading into a year of rapid change and potential uncertainty, as labor and capacity issues could intensify or ease, carrier and rail strike concerns could reemerge, and fuel prices and shipping surcharges might be a crapshoot. Plus, ever-evolving technologies, strategies and innovations make keeping up with customers’ expectations increasingly difficult. However,…

Delivery expectations have surged since the beginning of the pandemic, requiring innovative solutions to make shopping easier for the customer, regardless of what they’re buying. Delivery also plays a major role in customer purchasing decisions, especially during the holiday season. According to Oracle, 47 percent of global shoppers say the time it takes to get…

In peak season 2022, the top priority for many small to midsized businesses (SMBs) isn’t keeping up with dwindling inventories or navigating pandemic-impacted supply chains, it’s saving money. ShipStation data found that most merchants will cut costs this season by increasing delivery fees and decreasing delivery speeds for the end consumer. However, SMBs that take…

E-commerce sales rose steadily the first half of 2022, with sales increasing 2.7 percent between Q1 and Q2. But even with the coming holiday sales surge, that trend might not continue. In fact, some reports predict that the number of online orders this holiday season will be down 5 percent compared to 2021. Why? And…

In episode 378 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Nathan Sanders, CEO of Brook Furniture Rental, an industry leader in home and office furniture rentals. Sanders discusses Brook Furniture Rental's recent expansion from its core B-to-B business into direct-to-consumer selling (0:52), how both consumer and business customers can order from the company (4:13), and…

Walgreens announced on Thursday a 24/7 delivery service, offering delivery from nearly 400 stores in as little as an hour. Participating 24-hour Walgreens stores will offer more than 27,000 items, from groceries to over-the-counter medications to household essentials like toothbrushes and skincare products. The new service does comes with some exceptions, most notably around the delivery time. The…

Saks OFF 5TH is enhancing its online shopping experience with the launch of Guaranteed Delivery Date, a real-time calculated delivery date throughout the shopping journey for thousands of items available on SaksOFF5TH.com. Customers no longer have to wait until their order is shipped to have visibility into arrival date. With Guaranteed Delivery Date, customers will now…

Adapt or fail. That's a choice retailers are often forced to make given the pace of change in the world today — especially when it comes to logistics. It's more important now than ever for retail leaders to ensure critical aspects of business, like their fulfillment operations and last mile delivery, are streamlined. Fortunately, this…

UPS has followed the lead of its chief competitor, FedEx, in announcing that rates for its Ground, Air and International services will increase by an average of 6.9 percent effective Dec. 27, according to the company’s website. Furthermore, UPS announced higher accessorial charges effective on the same date, including for residential deliveries, packages requiring additional handling, and deliveries to…