ecommerce

In this edition: How influencers need a 3PL; noncompetes come for the C-suite; and the first installment of double broker red flags.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario. We can sit down with any merchant of any size, with any kind of commodity and really understand their needs and how both the technology and our carrier network can get that customer delivery experience they are looking for,” said Brad Noble, Passport’s new head of business development.

Inside this edition: designer brands relying more on 3PLs; Mexico gains another manufacturer; and more acquisitions.

Key Comparisons: Amazon vs Walmart

While Amazon continues to dominate Walmart in online sales, when customers are looking for groceries and other everyday items, they turn to Walmart.

Cargojet is better protected from an economic downturn than airlines handling general air cargo because of e-commerce and deep partnerships.

Hawaiian Airlines will begin operating Amazon Air’s largest cargo jets on the retailer’s biggest shipping lanes next year.

While consumers are indicating they may be spending less on holiday shopping this year, many merchants are expecting something different.

Even as B2B e-commerce grows, many business buyers are still suffering from a lack of visibility into the process.

The CEO and co-founder of Treet answers questions about his resale platform and the growing recommerce industry.

Descartes has integrated its ShipRush shipping solution with two of its popular warehouse management systems.

Amazon Air is a juggernaut. It has doubled in size in two years.

This swift rise in online shoppers has stressed an already-taxed industry, increasing the demands on less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers significantly.

Amazon Air is expanding further in the Great Plains.

It was a hectic — but profitable — year for the world’s largest online retailer. What does that say about e-commerce and where it’s going?

What is exciting for 2022, autonomous trucks make a big jump, Amazon shopping addicts by state, and FMCSA is hiring … again.

Small facilities are seeing big jumps in demand as e-commerce puts urban logistics in the spotlight, a JLL report says.

UniGroup’s Scott Kluesner describes the efforts made to deliver the best special commodity services during the pandemic.

With an automated system that intuitively manages returns, warehouses that face labor shortages can strategically utilize their employees.

ATSG also owns two aviation maintenance facilities and a logistics operation.

The two companies are joining forces to provide a tech-powered, eco-friendly alternative to a wasteful supply chain.

ENERGY’s customers now have access to a personalized web portal, which provides real-time data on inventory levels.

Cart.com’s end-to-end solution is now integrated with Sauceda’s fulfillment services.

Uber will partner with national grocer Albertsons and 1,200 of its stores.

On this episode of At Your Doorstep, Kaylee Nix looks at how local farmers and goods-makers are broadening their audience thanks to e-commerce.

DeliverEnd and Perfit partner to provide a contactless e-commerce and delivery solution.

The financial and strategic benefits of shifting toward more direct-to-consumer sales is becoming apparent at Nike.

E-commerce pushes rapid growth in domestic parcel business

Consumers reversion to services has not come at the detriment of durable goods spending. Over the past four weeks, the mix of durable goods-to-services spending has remained stable.

Peloton stated it expects to incur $50 million in refund expenses from its treadmill recall. What will the logistics costs be?

CRST Home Solutions offers reliable, customized solutions to meet all of your final mile needs, including delivery, support, installation, assembly and more.

The once-stagnant logistics industry has undergone rapid change in recent years. The 2017 electronic logging device mandate sparked something of a technological revolution within the industry. This focus on tech — coupled with outside forces ranging from consumer demand to climate change — has fostered an environment of innovation. Companies that are slow to adapt to new expectations are likely to be left behind. Shippers are no exception.

Improvements will come in the form of more ship-from-store, but mainly more ship-from-dark-store as retailers realize the unnecessary complexity of the method and seek to transform more stores into localized fulfillment centers.

This clever twist on micro-fulfillment centers offers a futuristic model for urban retailing and fulfillment. And it comes as companies test out a bevy of automated, unmanned service models, from dark stores to drones and autonomous delivery fleets.

The battle between brands and retailers is not new, but it’s more acute than ever because of the options each side has. For brands, it’s never been easier to own and operate sales channels both online and IRL. For retailers, there’s never been more digitally native brands seeking out offline homes than there are right now. And giants like Target, Walmart and Amazon have proven that consumers are willing to purchase and even be very loyal to private label brands.

Delivery software provider Onfleet is joining forces with Bond, an artificial intelligence platform, to offer e-commerce sellers an integrated solution that takes the customer from checkout to delivery in a single offering.

“Our goal is to empower brands and make it easy for them to scale. As these brands scale, the warehouses experience growth as well,” says Flowspace CEO Ben Eachus.

Federal stimulus checks will be heading by direct deposit and mail to millions of Americans, who will quickly turn to their computers to place online orders that flood parcel networks.

HSBC global economist James Pomeroy says we won’t be buying all the one-off big-ticket items we did during the pandemic’s first year.

There is no definitive end for this freight bull market in sight. Consumers continue to spend on goods, driving freight and diminishing already depleted inventories. Even if consumer spending diverged from its current trajectory (which I see as unlikely, especially given the additional stimulus, accelerating vaccine rollout and strong consumer balance sheet), the mass inventory restocking ahead will be sufficient to keep freight flowing from a consumer perspective.

On this episode of Point of Sale, Andrew Cox shares why he thinks the retail battle has shifted to a fight between omnichannel and e-commerce.

52% of adults in the U.S. plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, with $21.8 billion in projected sales in the name of love.

Find out how to save up to half on your lease annually.

Cargojet is riding the e-commerce wave and to grow business even more it sold shares so it can buy more big cargo planes.

Grocery is the only retail segment that has maintained (and even grown) its e-commerce penetration since peak levels in March, indicating the new normal is already here. The new normal is a much higher level of online demand, and grocers are getting wise about their fulfillment methods.

BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management plans to add up to a dozen Boeing 737-800 converted freighters to its portfolio in response to high demand for regional cargo jets that can […]

As retailers faced a decline in customers during COVID-19 lockdowns, many turned to scanning applications to help meet a surge in online orders.

More people did their holiday shopping online, driving up global e-commerce transactions 24% in December compared to 2019, according to new data.

Walmart will test a temperature-controlled box from HomeValet that enables home deliveries of groceries while ensuring those products remain fresh and safe for consumption.

COVID changed consumer behaviors and the result has been a growing realization the supply chain is no longer proactive but rather reactive to quickly shifting consumer demands.

The growing e-commerce and shop-at-home categories are opening up new expansion opportunities for fulfillment companies like Amware Fulfillment.

New data from Mastercard’s SpendingPulse showed that overall holiday retail sales rose in 2020, but department stores took a hit as more Americans bought online.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, cyberattacks on Forward Air and Central Freight Lines are causing supply chain issues. Plus, FedEx and UPS receive kudos for their performance transporting the COVID vaccines.

Vaccine distribution won’t delay deliveries of your Honey Baked Ham and toilet paper, says CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco.

The rise of e-commerce demands additional fulfillment space. Here’s a look at the current scope of Amazon’s reign.

Zach Strickland and Anthony Smith discuss headlines before Black Friday and what a changing presidential administration means for logistics regulations.

Drone applications are growing by the day, but only a few directly involve airlines. Air Canada is taking a novel approach, acting as a freight intermediary that matches shippers with drone operators.

Warehouse space in the U.S. is in high demand as e-commerce grows in popularity.

The A321 has a lot of potential in the air cargo market because of its efficiency and payload. Companies are beginning to convert passenger planes into cargo freighters.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) vs. Walmart (NYSE: WMT)? That one-on-one skirmish is old news. As COVID-19 reshapes the American shopper, money is pouring into a cluster of new and existing grocery […]

A grocery supply chain expert told the FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit that grocery stories are not feeding the Canadian appetite for online shopping.

Mesa Airlines and DHL reach a big cargo milestone.

DHL surveyed 900 global B2B and B2C business decision-makers about the evolution of e-commerce supply chains. Here’s what they reported.

Malls are now creating e-commerce platforms by consolidating products sold within their spaces and pushing click-and-collect options as delivery models.

Amazon is pushing the envelope on fast delivery, increasingly replacing long-haul trucking with air transport. A new report shows how the retail giant is expanding its Air wing to do that.

E-commerce delivery times during the holidays might not make the “nice” list with this year’s soaring online purchases.

There are plenty of options available for commercial vans, and each fleet will have its own requirements, but there aren’t many options that provide the all-around value the Ford Transit does.

Walmart partners with drone delivery company Flytrex to deliver select items from its stores.

Bain & Co report discusses the region’s e-commerce market and the futuristic trends that are at play.

Walmart’s fiscal second quarter comes in well ahead of analyst expectations as e-commerce sales surge. The COVID-related inventory drawdown is a positive for trucking.

Haultail democratizes visibility across last-mile networks, providing customers end-to-end transparency irrespective of the load in transit.

C.H. Robinson has added new shipping tools to its Freightquote by C.H. Robinson platform, including the ability to hire a tasker through TaskRabbit.

FreightWaves is partnering with Transfix to present an hour-long webinar on Thursday, August 6 at 2pm ET to address how shippers are adapting to meet customer needs during this unprecedented time.

UPS’ quarterly results are much better than analysts anticipated.

Amazon has been linked to several large real estate transactions this week, including the lease of a 1 million-square-foot facility in New York.

Amazon is no longer looking to just block counterfeiters from selling on its site. The company has established a new internal crime unit to pursue legal action against fraudsters.

Dan Crain profiles the important Newark, New Jersey logistics hub, as well as some of the logistics startups in the area.

The Walmart and Shopify partnership looks like it will shake up e-commerce as we know it.

FedEx reported to be exploring alternative growth path in Europe through stake in German parcel company Hermes.

In Episode 30, Andrew and Kevin reunite with an original host and creator of the show’s name, Seth Holm, to discuss the future of malls, brick-and-mortar and retail overall. Seth […]

Amazon’s slower deliveries are leveling the playing field; global natural gas demand to drop by record levels; Nauto announces predictive collision alert feature.

Canadian carrier Day & Ross is testing a hydrogen-injection engine technology that is said to reduce emissions. Plus, New York City is closing roads, ecommerce booms, and USMCA trade deal delayed

Amazon Shipping, has been put on hold, overtaken by unprecedented life-or-death events

Shippo is a next-generation shipping platform for ecommerce businesses, helping them provide their end consumers with an exceptional shipping experience.

Bob Costello expects many trucking companies to go out of business before the economy recovers from the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

FedEx provides a rather dim near-term outlook on operations and announces cost savings and balance sheet actions to preserve liquidity.

With increased volatility in international airfreight, Cargojet is bringing back planes to focus on the hot domestic market.

Amazon.com, Inc. plans to add 100,000 workers, increase hourly wages and limit items received into its fulfillment centers in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

China’s largest ecommerce company, JD.com, not ready to completely quantify coronavirus disruption.

Every FreightWaves article is designed to assist our readers in becoming the most informed professionals in the transportation and logistics industry. These articles may have flown under your radar this week. […]

Lowe’s sees positive sales comps in 14 of 15 regions, but full-year fiscal 2020 guidance disappoints.

Ecommerce is a competitive market, and companies need to provide a highly flexible delivery experience to retain their customers.

Descartes will now serve an extended ecommerce customer base that is looking to enhance its direct-to-consumer fulfillment performance.

Walmart’s fiscal fourth quarter comes in light of expectations as holiday activity was lower than expected.

While capacity utilization in long-haul trucking is going down, the capacity needs of last-mile delivery are increasing due to the rise of e-commerce.

Darren Prokop writes about the volatility in trucking, and how ecommerce may help less-than-truckload carriers recover in 2020.