Supply Chain
March 11, 2019 at 11:14 am
In part one of this series, I looked at how retailers can and should prepare to forward-buy inventory, the pros and cons of the practice, and the factors (i.e., inflation, tariffs) that led the industry to this point. The Tariff Effect Technology is the only way to effectively gauge demand volatility, react and re-plan for…
March 8, 2019 at 2:56 pm
In a keynote presentation earlier this week at Shoptalk in Las Vegas, Art Peck, president and CEO of Gap Inc., detailed four key areas that retailers must not be willing to compromise in order to continually meet rising customer expectations and drive profitable growth. Coincidentally, Peck was on stage a mere four days after Gap…
March 7, 2019 at 1:03 pm
The success of a retailer has always hinged on its relationship with consumers, driving brand loyalty, repeat store visits and ultimately sales. So retailers have always set strategies that aim to provide optimal service for customers. In today’s increasingly e-commerce-driven and multichannel environment, retailers are shifting their strategies — with the same goal of providing…
March 5, 2019 at 1:29 pm
"Buy low, sell high" … If you took anything away from any Economics class, that’s probably it. Now that President Trump’s import tariffs have pushed inflation to the highest level in six years, many retailers and distributors are putting that strategy into play. In cases where suppliers pre-announce a price increase or promotion on a…
February 28, 2019 at 8:47 am
Four key factors can help online entrepreneurs decide if a 3PL will be a good fit for the next chapter in their company’s success.
February 25, 2019 at 3:05 pm
The United States is planning to delay additional tariffs on Chinese goods that were scheduled to begin on March 1, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump cited "substantial progress" in bilateral talks between the U.S. and China. As a result, the president said he would suspend the…
February 19, 2019 at 11:24 am
The trade war with China has been cited as a primary cause of much of the recent economic volatility, from the stock market dive last fall to fluctuations in oil prices. While it's clear that tariffs are creating some level of instability as companies and investors try to guess what will happen next, many retailers…
February 7, 2019 at 12:51 pm
In 2019, the only thing that’s certain for retailers anymore is this: the traditional business model isn’t working anymore. With 51 percent of Americans now preferring to do their shopping online rather than in person, retailers need to drastically change their business models to keep their customers coming back to their brick-and-mortar stores — or…
February 6, 2019 at 11:23 am
Retailers and brands that want to thrive in this era cannot leave the critical last mile to chance.
February 5, 2019 at 2:01 pm
By focusing on agile, technology-enabled supply chain, retailers can position themselves to meet customer demand across all channels.
