Kingfisher Group has pledged an accelerated focus on last-mile delivery in its latest results this week, as well as outlining how it is reorganising distribution for greater efficiency. It said its shift to store-based picking and fulfilment in March 2020 has provided critical in meeting the significant rise in online (more…)
Sainsbury’s is relaunching its same-day delivery and click and collect offerings, having previously switched off its same-day services during the pandemic. The ‘super-fast’ home delivery service operates from more than 250 UK stores and was first launched in 2016. Customers who order before midday can chose a post 5pm delivery (more…)
Royal Mail is running a six-month trial of electric micro vehicles – which are the size of a golf buggy – across five towns and cities in the UK. The fully electric vehicles are designed to carry a typical-sized load of letters and small parcels in residential areas and have (more…)
John Lewis is investing in extra freight, including extra ships, this year to ensure it receives goods in time for Christmas. It comes as retailers’ supply chains continue to face disruption from a number of factors. “As we look ahead, there is significant uncertainty,” said chairman Sharon White in the (more…)
Wickes has reported record levels of throughput in both its store and distribution environments in its interim results this week. Amongst the innovations introduced to deal with this in the half year to 26 June 2021, is new in-store digital handheld terminal picking capability, as well as ‘park and collect’ (more…)
ASOS has announced a new set of ESG goals for 2030, which includes a commitment to achieve Net Zero across the full value chain by 2030. The company says that it will be carbon neutral in its direct operations by 2025. Nick Beighton, CEO at ASOS, said: “We are pleased to (more…)
Ocado Retail has revealed that it suffered lost revenue of around £35 million as a result of the disruption caused by a fire at its customer fulfilment centre in Erith earlier this year. The fire, which happened on July 16th, saw less than 1% of the grid damaged thanks to (more…)
JD Group, which has announced its interim results this week, is investing in several projects to expand its European logistics infrastructure after facing incremental costs of around £20 million arising from the additional administration and duty costs that now exist as a result of the UK’s new trading arrangements with the European Union. (more…)
New research from Barclaycard has shown that one in four (27%) British subscribers now rely on deliver-to-door food subscription services for half their meals. Its research shows that almost a fifth (18%) of adults in the UK are signed up to a food or restaurant subscription service, more than four (more…)
Wilko has made a £3 million investment in autonomous delivery firm StreetDrone, giving it a significant interest in the company. The investment is part of a wider multi-million pound pre-series A round which will allow StreetDrone to accelerate the development of its autonomous delivery vehicles and systems. StreetDrone plans to (more…)
Fashion brand Oh Polly has become the latest brand to sign up to InPost’s Instant Returns QR code returns service. Retailers including Missguided, New Look and schuh signed up earlier this year. The service allows consumers to return online shopping items by using a QR code on their phone, without the (more…)
Whistl is embarking on a recruitment campaign for its Devon-based operations with a target of recruiting more than 140 people to a variety of seasonal roles within its fulfilment and contact centre facilities in Wrangaton, Plymouth and Paignton. Known locally as Clientbase, the 300 strong team manage inbound contact centre (more…)
Gear4music will open two new distribution centres in Ireland and Spain this month. It comes as the company reports European sales behind last year, primarily as a result of post-Brexit cross border shipping challenges creating a less competitive delivery proposition in some of its European markets. Gear4music said the two (more…)
Morrisons is to make changes to its supply and delivery to better serve its ecommerce shoppers and cope with additional supply chain costs. The changes include ceasing home delivery operations in around 50 stores from October. The retailer, which reported its interim results for the half-year to 1 August this (more…)
Dunelm has pledged to become the first choice for home and will work on a number of new developments in the delivery space to enable this, including investment in new ecommerce and furniture warehousing and fulfilment capacity, as well as the optimisation of existing facilities. The retailer, which reported its (more…)
Hermes has created the new role of chief people officer as part of its commitment to investing in its people as the business continues to grow and transform. Penny Garnett will take up the role, working alongside the executive committee and Jill Maples in her new role of people and (more…)
UPS has opened its expanded hub, air gateway and brokerage at East Midlands airport following the investment of £138 million to expand the new facility. The hub is fitted with latest package sortation technology and supports more than 640 jobs in the region. It is particularly aimed at supporting smaller businesses (more…)
Ikea has become the latest retailer to apologise for stock shortages due to supply chain issues caused by by various impacts on the retail industry, with reports that up to 1,000 product lines are being affected. “Like many retailers, we’re experiencing some challenges with our supply and are therefore experiencing (more…)
Customer demand for free and fast returns could impact Christmas sales this year, with more than two-thirds of shoppers (77%) saying they would be more likely to pick a retailer for their Christmas shopping if they offered free returns. It comes as more than half (55%) of UK shoppers plan to (more…)
Autonomous robot delivery specialist Starship Technologies has recruited former Morrisons CEO Dalton Philips. Philips was CEO at the supermarket giant from 2010 to 2015. He is currently CEO of daa plc. As well as his role at Morrisons he also held roles including chief operating officer of Loblaw – Canada’s leading (more…)