Supply Chain

A supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Many of us were reminded of that fact during the pandemic, when everyday items that had always been readily available, like toilet paper, started to disappear from stores. Even with those days now largely behind us, scattered supply chain disruptions have persisted, most recently…

In recent years the supply chain has been challenged by port backups, factory closures, material shortages, and labor and driver shortages. While disruptions caused by the pandemic and geo-political turmoil have made some of the biggest headlines, severe weather-related disasters such as drought, fire, flooding and earthquakes have further compounded those bottlenecks, placing additional pressure…

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Caden Lane is a Texas-based online retailer known for its range of personalized newborn clothing along with nursery decor. The brand has gone from strength to strength since switching its focus from wholesale and brick-and-mortar sales to online-only, direct-to-consumer business. Caden Lane recently reported a 132 percent growth rate — earning the company fourth place…

Consumers have long said they prefer sustainable products, and a new study shows that they've been putting their money where their mouth is. Researchers from McKinsey and NielsenIQ studied 600,000 products from 44,000 brands and conclusively found that products that make environmental, social and governance (ESG) claims experienced faster growth than products without them. This…

If the world has learned anything about the fragility of supply chains over the past few years, it’s that any pain point in a link of the supply chain — from raw material suppliers to last-mile delivery — can lead to bottlenecks, loss of revenue and unsatisfied customers. One important link within this long and…

Private label’s market share keeps growing. Sales of private-label products climbed in 2022, averaging 11.3 percent growth, nearly twice what national brands saw, according to a report from the Private Label Manufacturers Association. Global inflation helped fuel that growth, spurring consumers to turn to store brand alternatives to save money. However, 73 percent of consumers say…

The current pressures on the supply chain are enormous. Three years after the global pandemic created a tsunami of backups and disruptions that are still reverberating through the supply chain today, brands and retailers are navigating a seemingly endless cavalcade of new threats ranging from inflationary pressures to trade wars to the Russian invasion of…

From high inflation to rapidly changing labor needs and hiring challenges, retail manufacturers and logistics providers continue to face multiple supply chain challenges and there’s no determination of when these challenges will subside. However, there are certain opportunities retail manufacturers and logistics providers can take advantage of to start to overcome these challenges and rebuild their…

E-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers are caught in a vortex of clamor about inflation, a potential economic downturn, and what some expect to be a shopping slowdown. At the same time, research shows there’s reason to be hopeful. Even if shoppers pump the brakes on spending, retail sales are still likely to increase some 4 percent…