Supply Chain

Pre-COVID, we saw the impact of online consumer demand growing and behavior adjusting, but brands often had time to analyze how they wanted to respond to it and when. Once the world shut down from COVID, that power quickly transitioned to the consumer, with brands forced to adjust almost immediately if they wanted any opportunity…

During the pandemic-induced online shopping boom, retailers invested in e-commerce capabilities out of necessity. As consumers shifted to retailers with online ordering, merchants were scrambling to provide new digital order and delivery options. These investments helped capture more market share, but now that stores are reopening and there's little market share remaining to capture, retailers…

Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) might just be the best long-term strategy for brick-and-mortar retailers. Allowing customers to purchase items online and pick them up curbside or in-store accommodates prevailing consumer demands: safety, efficiency, and convenience. BOPIS will soon be a standard feature of most, if not all, brick-and-mortar operations. Virtually every major retailer…

As an experienced retailer, you already know that customer satisfaction rests on product quality and distribution (i.e., delivery). In this day of e-commerce and digital shopping, customers expect products to arrive quickly, whether the product in question is a bottle of dish detergent or a large, heavy refrigerator. If delivery expectations aren’t met, customers might…

Amazon.com on Tuesday announced that Key by Amazon In-Garage Grocery Delivery is expanding to everywhere grocery delivery from Amazon is available, providing service to more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, according to a company press release. Originally launched in five cities last November, Key In-Garage Grocery Delivery can now be used by millions of…

Consumer behavior has been evolving over time, but never has it changed so rapidly in such a short period as it did in 2020. COVID-19 almost single-handedly forced consumers to embrace online shopping, as many physical stores shut down or reduced hours to comply with COVID-19 mandates. Consumers turned to online retailers for everything from…

lululemon athletica on Tuesday announced its first-ever recommerce program and will pilot a trade-in program in California and Texas next month, with plans to expand to an online resale program in June, reports CNBC. According to a company press release, lululemon Like New is a recommerce model for guests to rethink, revive and rediscover lululemon…

Local retailers serve a critical role in our lives as places that feed and nurture us, supply our basic needs, and contribute to the local and national economy. This interview is the second in a three-part series with my friend and mentor Jocelyn Mangan, CEO and founder of CEO and founder of Him For Her, a social…

COVID-19 has changed the way retailers do business now and into the future. Today’s consumer essentially has three core demands: make my life easier, make my life better, and make my life more fulfilling. Retailers are responding to these consumer requirements with more urgency in the wake of COVID-19. The pandemic-induced shift to much higher…

The retail world was rocked this past year with pandemic-led surges in demand for e-commerce and at-home delivery. While many retailers were successful in making the pivot or ramping up their delivery cycles to meet capacity, it certainly didn't come without its challenges. The interesting aspect to the surge in e-commerce we experienced this past…