Starbucks is pairing up with the e-commerce service Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to deliver food and beverage products in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move comes as Starbucks recorded an earning slowdown in its last quarter.

To a smaller merchant looking to sell its products over the internet, Amazon.com, with its massive network of warehouses and fulfillment resources, might seem like an irresistible partner. At what point, though, does Amazon become the competition?

A truck driver for the Schwebel Baking Co. rolled out of Cleveland toward Rochester, N.Y., on a recent day with a trailer full of freshly-made sandwich rolls and buns. Less than an hour into the run, sensors tied to his tractor-trailer started sending a stream of urgent data messages that led the big rig to turn around and head back to the bakery.

Cargo streamed into U.S. seaports at a rapid rate in June, as businesses pulled in goods in an apparent rush to stock up ahead of new tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China.

John Saunders had an unlikely path to becoming a manufacturer.