Shipping

Yet Another Retail Supply Chain Disruption: Coping With Hurricane Season
October 6, 2022 at 11:07 am

The retail supply chain has been stuck in a perpetual cycle of disruption for the last three years. From coping with the fallout of COVID-19 to navigating the shifting landscape as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the retail industry has had to constantly lurch from one priority to the next to find some sort…

How to Prepare Your Brand for the Shuttering of USPS' Reseller Program
September 29, 2022 at 9:56 am

The U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) reseller program, which has been around since 1992 to offer discounted shipping rates, is about to be shut down and will impact e-commerce sellers at the end of this month. For the uninitiated, USPS resellers act as outsourced sales representatives for the Postal Service that work with some tech providers…

Gearing Up for Peak Season: Critical Last-Mile Delivery
September 27, 2022 at 9:54 pm

Despite inflation chatter dominating economic discussions, U.S. container imports in August 2022 (the most recent data) were 2,529,042 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), which is up 18 percent from pre-pandemic August 2019. This is the first month since August 2020 that there has not been record imports vs. the previous year.  With the holiday shopping season fast…

Lowe's Introduces Same-Day Delivery Nationwide in Deal With Instacart
September 8, 2022 at 6:54 pm

Lowe’s and Instacart announced that same-day delivery is now available from more than 1,700 Lowe’s stores nationwide. Nearly 30,000 items can be ordered for delivery in as fast as an hour. Lowe’s is one of the first retailers on the Instacart App to roll out same-day and scheduled delivery for large items, up to 3x3x5…

Why Free Shipping Hurts Your Small E-Commerce Business
August 31, 2022 at 10:09 am

Although the myth of free shipping is a topic often discussed, it seems necessary to reiterate the main takeaway: free shipping isn’t free. Someone always pays the cost for shipping, and frequently that someone is the business. Despite this revelation, brands still implement free shipping to meet ever-growing consumer expectations. Sixty-six percent of customers want free…

UPS Announces Peak Surcharges Impacting High-Volume Shippers
August 30, 2022 at 6:39 pm

UPS announced last week its surcharges for the 2022 peak season, which will impact high-volume shippers expecting elevated home delivery demand during the holidays, reports Supply Chain Dive. Beginning Oct. 30, customers billed for more than 20,000 packages any week after October 2021 will see a “Peak/Demand Surcharge” applied to certain UPS Air Residential, Ground…

3 Delivery Challenges and How Retailers Can Overcome Them
August 18, 2022 at 5:09 pm

While same-day and scheduled delivery options are ideal, they're not without their challenges. Elevated delivery service of any kind takes extra effort, but the results are more than worth it. Some mistakes are unavoidable and many consumers understand that, as roughly 50 percent of shoppers would give a retailer a second chance after a poor…

U.S. Postal Service Proposes Temporary Holiday Price Increase
August 11, 2022 at 12:47 pm

The U.S. Postal Service filed a notice Wednesday of a temporary price hike for this year’s peak holiday season, which it said would help cover extra handling costs. The agency said the adjustment was approved by its board of governors and is now pending review by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The price increase would go…

Same-Day and Scheduled Delivery Are Now Consumer Mandates. Are You Prepared?
August 11, 2022 at 10:50 am

To rise above the competition, whether online or in-store, retailers need to ensure their customer experience remains consistent throughout the shopping journey, all the way to the consumer’s front door. Recent reports indicate that “one in three shoppers now expects same-day delivery,” and that “90 percent of consumers now see two- or three-day delivery as the…

What Consumers Expect From Their Delivery Experiences
August 4, 2022 at 3:03 pm

These past two years have cemented consumers' behavior of turning to e-commerce for their shopping needs. In fact, it's estimated that 95 percent of all purchases will take place online by 2040. Exceptional customer experiences and speedy fulfillment and distribution are not just lofty goals — they're the expectations of every online shopping experience. However,…