Proposed regulations mandated by the Sanitary Food Transportation Act and the Food Safety Modernization Act hold powerful implications for the future of the cold chain industry. The business environment is shifting, and the proposed rule is just one piece of this changing landscape, as the industry experiences an overall increase in regulations, customer-required audits and augmented public pressure from food recalls.

In early November, Amazon repriced 55 percent of its best-selling office/school products and 45 percent of its best-selling toys/games from one day to the next.

Geodis has received regulatory approvals needed for finalizing its acquisition of Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (OHL), a third-party logistics provider with annual revenue of nearly $1.3bn.

Rittal, a manufacturer of enclosures for servers and other IT equipment, as well as climate-control and power-distribution systems, is employing radio frequency identification technology to manage the movements of its products through the painting process at its Rittershausen assembly plant.

Anyone looking for more proof that holiday shopping begins earlier has some new statistics to cite: 56.6 percent of those celebrating the holidays had begun shopping by early November, up from 54.4 percent last year and up further from the 49 percent who had started by this time in 2008, the first time the National Retail Federation asked the question.

For the retail industry, mobile has become a major aspect of the brand and commerce experience.

An autonomous robot was unveiled recently that can make sure that when you're hankering for Doritos, there's a bag waiting for you at the market.