Analyst Insight: Online retailers must make the returns process convenient for their customers which, in turn, increases the amount of product returned. But every company must find a balance between cost and customer expectations. Should you encourage customers to return products to the store? To the DC? To a 3PL? The answer depends on your brand, culture, infrastructure and average unit price. – Bruce Baring and Jason Denmon, Apparel Industry Leaders, Fortna Inc.

Analyst Insight: Implementation time-lines for transportation management outsourcing continue to shrink thanks to cloud-based systems, process standardization, and features like automated carrier contract management. This is not the case for facility start-ups. With 10+ key milestones, hundreds of key tasks and sub-tasks, time-line slippage and cost overruns can quickly extend the time to value for both 3PLs and shippers. – Valerie Bonebrake, Senior Vice President, Tompkins International

A company's reputation rests on much more than the quality of the products that it makes.

Electronic waste is threatening to overwhelm our landfills.

InkaFarma has an ambitious plan to nearly double the number of stores it operates in Peru, with an emphasis on opening up new locations in some of the country's remotest areas. To make that happen, the company needed both a new, automated distribution center and a warehouse-management system with which to run it.