Dan Ennor, commercial director at Global Freight Solutions (GFS), shares learnings from the company’s peak period, during which it saw parcel volumes rise 20% year-on-year. The peak period (Nov-Dec) is considered a lucrative time of year for nearly all retailers, emphasised by the fact that UK consumers spent a sizeable (more…)
Ocado saw its share price rise on news over the weekend that it might sign a new deal with Marks & Spencer. Details in the Mail on Sunday report were vague at this stage but suggested that Ocado could effectively replace its range of Waitrose products with M&S ones. It (more…)
Aoife Oconnell, retail business consultant at Zetes, explains the role of data in optimising the supply chain. Consumer behaviour changes are regularly charted and seemingly evolve at a rapid rate. However, today’s technology will have a direct influence on the store of the future and can help retailers to meet (more…)
A recent Capgemini report offered empirical support for something that crops up regularly at the anecdotal level: delivery companies are not hugely popular. A net promoter score (NPS) is based on how people respond when asked how likely they would be to recommend the company, product or service to a (more…)
Whistl is best known as a downstream access mail provider, but it is looking to make waves in the ecommerce fulfilment space. “We like this sector,” CEO Nick Wells (pictured, right) explains to eDelivery in an exclusive interview. “It gives you more control over the total supply chain.” Wells says (more…)
“Boringly consistent” is the phrase that Neil Ashworth, the CEO of CollectPlus and chief commercial officer of Yodel, uses when summarising how he wants customers to perceive his business. The internal catchphrase isn’t the most inspiring, admits Ashworth, but in its substance over style approach it strikes close to the heart (more…)
Gary Rohloff, co-founder at Laybuy, explains how so-called free delivery and returns are not such a good deal for the retailer that offers them. Last year the press reported on a growing trend amongst Instagram users who simply buy clothes to wear once for an #ootd picture – then return (more…)
A new drone corridor in Bedfordshire could provide a testing ground for retailers to test and demonstrate new automated delivery systems, says the founder of the company behind the initiative. Since August 2018, autonomy specialist Blue Bear and the University of Cranfield have been collaborating on a site for conducting (more…)
eDelivery looks at some of the major trends that retail logistics professionals will grapple with in 2019. Automation, automation, automation Of those technologies generally seen as futuristic, automation already has the weight of evidence behind it. Retailers and logistics companies are already achieving demonstrable results from introducing automation both (more…)
While a number of technologies promise to disrupt retail logistics, there are only a handful of companies that are actually putting them to practical use. In this article eDelivery looks into some of the innovative new European start-ups that are already working to transform the sector. Vekia – predictive (more…)
With nearly half of British shoppers doing at least 50% of their Christmas shopping online, Julian Krenge, chief technology officer at parcelLab, looks at how retailers can learn from the master of speedy deliveries: Santa Claus himself. It’s no secret that the festive period is the busiest time of the (more…)
Romulus Grigoras, CEO at OneStock, reflects on how 2018 has raised the bar for order management. If I buy a new jacket, I expect my order to be fulfilled regardless of where it’s stocked and how I’d like it delivered. I might wish to shop online and pick up in-store (more…)
Bruce Fair, chief revenue officer at MetaPack, explains how retailers can use “ship from store” to make use of their real estate while cutting logistics costs. Peak notwithstanding, the retail market is in a state of flux and store closures have reached record levels over the past year. Many long-established (more…)
The decision on whether to buy a real or plastic Christmas tree usually depends on personal taste, with very few people if any thinking about the impact their choice has on logistics. But for Christmas tree suppliers such as Needlefresh, the current move away from plastics has led to a (more…)
By Andy Kaye, CEO, Bis Henderson Group Much of a retail business’ ability to remain competitive and relevant to a market depends upon the readiness of its supply chain to react and adapt swiftly to change. Smart technology and flexible processes may go some way to facilitate this, but organisational (more…)
Amazon has been disrupting the logistics industry for years, but its latest step may be a difficult one for retailers to follow. From the end of November to 5 December Amazon UK ran a “free delivery week”, in which its free delivery service was extended to all orders with no (more…)
By Ed Bradley, director and co-founder of Virtualstock Dropshipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers the customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to (more…)
December is a time of celebration, festivity – and for the logistics sector, intense pressure. John Perry, MD at Scala, writes about how retailers can cope with the seasonal spike. It’s Christmas, companies are scrambling to get their deliveries completed in time and order fulfilment is top of the agenda. (more…)
To talk to Tim Robinson, CEO of Doddle, the last mile is going to remain a major challenge for retailers for many years to come. In an exclusive interview with eDelivery, he outlined both the physical (limited roadspace and vehicles) and management challenges (disorganised and demanding consumers) that retailers face (more…)
Click and collect providers such as Doddle were “drunk on proximity” before the latter dramatically reoriented its business model, its CEO claims. Tim Robinson, who founded the parcel pick-up service in 2014, tells eDelivery that things have fundamentally changed since then – not least with the addition of competition from (more…)