Historically, omnichannel software solutions were not capable of optimization. This meant that retailers were not maximizing their profitability. That is changing. Omnichannel refers to the ability of a consumer to get products fulfilled to them in various ways. A customer can of course buy goods in a store. They can also order online and have […]
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive, omni-channel world, warehouses play a critical role in maximizing service and fulfilling the ambitious customer promises that are required today. Warehouses also represent an enormous cost center. Companies annually spend about $325 billion on warehousing — and 85% of that cost goes to operating expenses that include labor, space and equipment. […]
People will steal just about anything these days. I saw an article this week about criminals in the Mediterranean that are stealing olives due to the surging price of olive oil. Warehouse break-ins, accounting scams, and oil tampering are on the rise in the olive growing regions of Greece, Spain, and Italy. But thieves are […]
Next Tuesday is Halloween, a night when kids don costumes and go trick or treating, and parents open their wallets for all sorts of Halloween fun. Total Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $12.2 billion, exceeding last year’s record of $10.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper […]
Imagine a world where all silos of supply chain functions work in unison on the same platform, where most decisions are made automatically considering competing objectives of various functions and results are optimized using cost versus service trade-offs, and the partnership model allows for continuous evolution of the model, user interface and analytics as business […]
The holiday rush is coming, and Amazon announced that it will start its holiday promotional season early with the second annual Prime Big Deal Days sales extravaganza kicking off Tuesday, October 10. Not surprisingly, other retailers followed suit with their own online deal days / weeks, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. As shipping costs, […]
Earlier this morning I was thinking about something different, yet interesting to discuss in the intro paragraph of this week in logistics news. Then it occurred to me, why not talk about what I want to discuss? So I will. I will use this paragraph as an inquiry for my own selfish interests. I am […]
Amazon’s patent for anticipatory shipping generated quite the media buzz a decade ago. My first impression at that time was the mental image it provoked – a delivery truck pulling up to my house and placing a package that I hadn’t ordered on my front door, but ultimately decided to keep. My second impression was […]
The concept of digital twins has emerged as a powerful foundational tool to drive improvements in warehouse productivity and efficiency. To define what exactly it is, a digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset, process, or system. In the warehouse context, a digital twin can be created to represent the physical layout, […]
Coupa recently completed its Inspire conference. It ran from April 11th through the 13th at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas. Roughly 3,000 customers, prospects, and partners attended. Coupa offers a Business Spend Management (BSM) platform based on a public cloud. The platform connects hundreds of organizations representing the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, with millions […]