Sean Fleming investigates where retailers are collaborating currently and what it means long term for them and for the wider logistics industry. A number of stand-out themes and trends have emerged in the last year or two in the life of the ecommerce fulfilment space. Some will turn out (more…)
The eDelivery Expo took place at Birmingham’s NEC in April. The eDelivery team reports on the supplier launches and retailer insights. Peak trading, click and collect and sustaining final mile deliveries were all discussed at the recent eDelivery Expo. Walter Blackwood, former Director-Group Logistics at Mothercare opened the conference with (more…)
Sean Fleming, Editor of eDelivery.net investigates the impact of peak on returns and how retailers can handle peak 2016. The first week of January probably feels like a long way off, to most people at least. But you’re closer now to 2017’s Mega Returns Monday (or however, it will come (more…)
Homeware retailer JML Direct has implemented a fully automated despatch solution from NetDespatch, aimed at speeding up its order fulfilment and despatch processes, and eliminating transcription errors. The order-to-despatch solution will handle online orders placed via the company’s own website, as well as other ecommerce sites including Amazon, Debenhams and (more…)
German-owned discount supermarket giant Aldi has awarded a long-term contract to iForce as it steps up its non-food online offering. Aldi already uses iForce Gateway, the fulfilment solution powered by proprietary software called SMART, from the supply chain specialist’s multi-client warehouse in Corby, Northamptonshire. Aldi first got iForce Gateway involved in (more…)
Echoing concerns voiced by former London Mayor, Boris Johnson MP, a recent study has highlighted the increasing number of delivery vans as a reason for London’s congested road network. This is a view put forward by the UK Warehouse Association (UKWA) when it called for the government to intervene in (more…)
DPD has launched its Your DPD app, which was unveiled earlier in the year, which will increase pressure on the rest of the industry to improve choice and flexibility. Squarely aimed at giving customers a sense of control over delivery slots, while driving down failed delivery rates and the associated costs, (more…)
May 25 marked the official conclusion of the €4.4bn (£3.46bn) takeover of TNT by FedEx, described as “a truly historic day” by David Bronczek, President & CEO of FedEx Express, who used a press conference to outline the acquisition, and also to dismiss the idea that Amazon is a threat (more…)
Upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason has extended its contract with iForce for use of its Gateway crosschannel order fulfilment and warehouse management service. The relationship between the two has been in place for almost four years, and includes the supply of products to Fortnum & Mason’s iconic store in (more…)
House of Fraser has submitted a planning application for the development of a new 750,000sq ft distribution hub on the edge of Peterborough. The site is part of the Gateway Peterborough development (‘Gateway’), situated at the junction of the A1(M) and the A605, and already benefits from outline consent for (more…)
Sean Flemming highlights recent industry changes… XPO Logistics, the company formerly known as Norbert Dentressangle, is to handle UK logistics on behalf of UK tech-toy brand, VTech. This includes a bespoke warehouse management system, and flexible warehousing at XPO’s West Hallam shared-user facility in Derbyshire, which will be used to (more…)
Last year the first ever eDelivery Conference (EDC) took place in London on 13 October. This year it returns to London’s Novotel West on 11 October, and the overarching theme of EDC16 will be practicality. Creating options and providing robust solutions could be the mantra of the multichannel professionals (more…)
This is my final editorial column. I’m moving on. But eDelivery is still here and is set to go from strength to strength. Some of you reading this will already know that I am stepping down as editor of eDelivery; this is my final editorial column, and next month a (more…)
News broke earlier this week that the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is to allow Amazon to test delivery drones – flying in the face of the received wisdom that this idea had been grounded some time ago. The trials will involve drones with a 2.3kg (5lb) payload, or less (more…)
Hot on the heels of announcing plans to double the size of its click-and-collect network, Sainsbury’s is now running trials of same-day grocery delivery. As in the case of Amazon’s own food service launch, shoppers in London will be among the first to experience the new service, which is available (more…)
Last month I wrote about the phenomenon of the Daily Mail moment. Back then I was talking about Sports Direct, but this week it’s been the turn of Hermes. Only it wasn’t the Daily Mail, it was the Guardian. The accusations and criticism being levelled at Hermes are likely to (more…)
In what is believed to be the third largest ecommerce acquisition deal of all time, Unilever is to buy internet startup Dollar Shave Club for $1bn. Founded in 2011 and based in California, Dollar Shave Club operates a direct-to-consumer subscription model with three levels of membership: The Humble Twin (two (more…)
Last June I wrote about some of the difficulties we’d all seen retailers and carriers faced with, as they tried to keep up with customer demand and expectations across the Black Friday 2014 period. Last year’s end-of-year peak was relatively trouble free. Was it a fluke, or the result of (more…)
Bucking the trend of falling consumer confidence, growth in UK etail spending was 17% higher in June 2016 than the previous year, according to the IMRG/Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. The month-on-month growth was 2%. The average basket value of goods purchased online was also up, from £75.11 in June 2015, (more…)
The co-chair of the All Parliamentary Cycling Group has called for lorry drivers who make regular trips into urban areas to receive specialist training. Ruth Cadbury MP made the statement during a roundtable debate session organised by HGV Training. It has also led to a number of questions being submitted to (more…)