For more than 60 years, freight and parcel shippers have used service companies to audit their shipping invoices and to make accurate payments to their carriers. However, due to the desire to maintain control of the process, some shippers would rather not outsource this function. In recent years, some audit and payment providers have developed software tools that allow shippers to bring these controls in-house.

Keeping online buyers happy is easy. All you have to do is flood the channel with so much inventory that you're never out of stock. And probably go out of business in the process.

360pi, a provider of price and product intelligence, has joined with brand-protection expert MarkMonitor to aid brands in identifying and addressing online threats to revenues and reputations.

The supply chain is core to how your business is run and its costs, profit and growth. With the increasing globalization of business, variable taxes and duties across trading borders have a huge impact on overall cost, supplier sourcing, manufacturing strategies and distribution network structure.