Supply Chain

How E-Commerce Sellers Can Out-Amazon Amazon
September 5, 2018 at 12:01 pm

E-commerce is a runaway train with no slowing in sight. Nearly eight in 10 Americans now shop online to the tune of $453 billion in sales. Clearly, Amazon.com has been the biggest catalyst here. Free, two-day shipping has completely reset consumers’ expectations around the realities of speed and cost of delivery, a big reason why…

How Weather Data Can Help Retailers Grow Profits
September 4, 2018 at 12:35 pm

Almost every weather-related headline in the media or corporate annual reports focuses on the associated negative impacts for organizations. And there’s a lot to report: in 2017 alone, there were 330 catastrophic weather events, 31 of which each resulted in damages of more than 1 billion USD. Even "normal weather" impacts nearly every industry on…

Returns in the Supply Chain: Completing the Circular Lifecycle of Inventory
August 13, 2018 at 12:21 pm

Try this on for size: In 2017, there were $351 billion worth of returns in the United States retail market. Putting this figure in perspective, were that dollar value the revenue of a retailer, it would be the second largest behind Walmart (Walmart is at $363 billion, with the second-place retailer, Kroger, at $110 billion…

Walmart Testing the Use of Robots for Online Grocery Pickup
August 6, 2018 at 2:21 pm

Walmart is testing the use of storage and retrieval robotics, called Alphabot, to increase the speed of online grocery order pickup, according to a company blog post. The technology, which was developed in collaboration with retail automation company Alert Innovation, is being installed in a section of a Salem, N.H. supercenter, which will also be a dedicated…

Commitment to Social Responsibility Makes Indigenous More Than Just a Fashion Brand
July 30, 2018 at 10:09 am

In episode 156 of Total Retail Talks, Matt Reynolds, co-founder and president of Indigenous, a retailer of organic, fair trade and sustainable fashion, discusses the brand's commitment to being socially responsible, steps it has taken to be more environmentally conscious, and the business benefits associated with this approach.

Report: Merchants Earn Highest Pay in Retail Organizations
July 24, 2018 at 2:57 pm

There are multiple departments within a retail organization, so which are most important? If we’re equating worth to cost — i.e., the annual salaries of employees within each department — then supply chain executives are most critical (see chart below). This was just one of the findings of Total Retail's recently released 2018 Salary Benchmark Report,…

Predictive Analytics, Omnichannel Fulfillment Help ALDO Group Be More Profitable
July 16, 2018 at 11:08 am

With 3,000 points of sale in over 100 countries around the world, ALDO Group, a designer, manufacturer and retailer of footwear and accessories, sought a solution to help it better optimize its inventory across its online and offline sales channels. After a thorough vetting process, ALDO announced that it was partnering with Celect, a predictive…

4 Best Practices for Omnichannel Fulfillment
July 12, 2018 at 1:00 pm

Steve Jobs once said, “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” For apparel manufacturers and retailers, no statement could be truer. Consumers want to be able to research merchandise, compare prices and move between purchasing channels seamlessly. Without seamless purchasing…

5 Big Questions Facing Retail and Logistics Leaders
July 5, 2018 at 10:12 am

More than ever, consumers are making purchase decisions based on how fast they can get products in their hands. To meet these growing expectations for speed and convenience, traditional retailers are overhauling their supply chains to compete with Amazon.com and other rivals. Retailers also are asking more of their suppliers to help keep inventory low…