In one of the biggest flops of the dot-com era, Webvan went bust less than two years after its $375m initial public offering in 1999. That's because it built a warehouse and distribution system for products that are already available within three miles of most consumers, says Rich Tarrant, CEO of MyWebGrocer.
Luxury shoppers are more likely to use mobile channels when shopping but are slightly less satisfied with e-commerce overall, according to the Luxury E-Retail Satisfaction Index released by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee.
Pier Luigi Sigismondi, chief supply chain officer of Unilever, enumerates the ways in which the company's supply chain adds value to the business. He also talks about issues of sustainability and supply-chain segmentation.
Putting Albertsons back together again won't be as easy as it looks. The grocery chain was split in 2006 between Supervalu and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, with both chains using the same logo in different geographic regions. But on January 10, the two owners decided to reunite what will now be a 650-store chain in a complicated deal that leaves only one thing very clear: These money managers aren't thinking about IT when it comes to reassembling the chain.
Research released by Voxware indicates two thirds of consumers return online or phone purchases because of retailer error - usually delivering an item in the wrong size or color - and repeat business suffers as a result. On top of that, the returns process is flawed in many cases.
As retailers are still trying to work through their new-found infatuation with the idea of same-day deliveries, it's quickly becoming a love-hate relationship. Beyond Amazon's discovery that shoppers loved the concept of same-day but ended up not using it, it now seems that some U.K. retailers are willing to very heavily subsidize same-day delivery charges.
Quick Response (QR) codes are gaining increasing acceptance among consumers in North America and Europe, according to a report from Pitney Bowes. QR code usage as reported by more than 5,000 consumers surveyed stands at 15 percent on average and at 27 percent for consumers 18 to 34 years old.
GT Nexus Inc. and TradeCard Inc. have announced a merger agreement that will create a single cloud-technology platform for global trade and supply-chain management.
