Drop shipping has the potential to completely change the world of retail. However, as John Weber, director of business development and product management at Aptean, explains, retailers need an effective ERP system to truly make the most of this new retail reality. It’ll come as a shock to no one (more…)
The challenge of returns is a constant one. In this piece, Mike Cockfield, managing director and founder at Khaos Control, explains how retailers can best manage returns, or better still, prevent them. With the National Retail Federation announcing that 15-30% of purchases in 2018 will be returned, an effective returns policy (more…)
Retailers are facing increasing pressure from environmental lobbyists. In this piece, Andy Hill, director at Sorted, reveals how this could impact delivery and the supply chain. What do plastic bottles, drinking straws, carrier bags, and disposable coffee cups all have in common? They’ve all been used as physical examples of consumers (more…)
Too often retailers ignore the potential of packaging but it’s about more than just a box, explains Konrad Kwiatkowski, marketing manager and co-founder at Packhelp. Despite what the headlines say, bricks and mortar stores still have an advantage over ecommerce when it comes to connecting with the customer. When you step (more…)
Despite the opportunities for increased profitability and better customer satisfaction retailers are still overlooking the benefits of optimising their packaging when it comes to delivery, says Isabel Rocher, head of ecommerce at DS Smith. As a whole, packaging performance in e-commerce is far from optimised: it hasn’t caught up with the rapid (more…)
The subscription box industry is growing fast and offers great opportunities to tie customers in around delivery and product, says Marie Louise Dalton, global vice president of marketing at Hitwise. The subscription box industry is one of the fastest-growing retail verticals in the UK, with online visits rising by 30% year-on-year, (more…)
With Australia’s new Goods and Service Tax imminent next month UK retailers should look for expert partner support to relieve the administrative burden and ensure compliance says Gary Tervit, international director, P2P. UK retailers wishing to explore the lucrative Australian market will soon be obliged to negotiate new import tax laws. (more…)
It’s time that retailers stop paying lip service to a good returns experience and do more to improve the experience since for modern returners, variety, trust and transparency are not just buzzwords, according to Graham Best, CEO of ReBOUND. It’s common knowledge in ecommerce that today’s shoppers, especially millennials, are harder (more…)
The customer experience is more important than ever in last-mile delivery so how are retailers innovating in this area asks Anthony Gavin, regional director EMEA at Narvar. Digital customer experiences have redefined our expectations of the physical world. We’ve grown accustomed to the instant gratification of cyberspace and want to (more…)
Brexit is an opportunity for businesses to grow outside the EU so long as they treat delivery as an integral component to growth, according to Dan Ennor, commercial director at Global Freight Solutions. Uncertainty abounds for UK-based retailers post-Brexit. The easy option for companies would be to bury their heads in (more…)
As the growing demands around delivery continue to evolve Matthew Robertson, co-CEO of NetDespatch, reveals why he believes flexible parcel delivery will become the norm. In 2018, we see shopping habits continue to evolve as more consumers switch between online and in-store and also between the devices they use to both (more…)
Great delivery has to be about more than just cost but should be appropriate to the needs of the customer and what’s being delivered, says Ian Bolton, director of logistics at DX. In an increasingly competitive landscape, it can be tempting for logistics firms to focus exclusively on price when (more…)
With failed deliveries still happening Rijk van Meekeren, CCO at B2C Europe, askes whether social delivery is the answer and what else consumers are thinking around delivery. We all know the online retail industry has grown substantially in recent years. With such a large increase in parcels however, there has also (more…)
Regular forecasting and planning meetings are one of the cornerstones of any successful relationship between a company and its fulfilment partner, says William Walker, sales director of Walker Logistics. For most businesses forecasting involves a degree of guesswork, but it is nevertheless an essential process – particularly when it comes (more…)
From click and collect to sellers and business owners wanting to be included in every step of the way when they outsource, fulfilment isn’t easy or simple in this day and age. In this piece, Jake Rheude, director of marketing at Red Stag Fulfillment, reveals the main challenges. There are some (more…)
With eDelivery Expo taking place this week Matthew Robertson, Co-CEO at NetDespatch, who will be attending the event, says the show has got him thinking again about how important customer service is. With the eDelivery Expo, the UK’s largest retail, fulfilment and final mile conference, happening next week on 21st and (more…)
Lee Thompson from eCommerce fulfilment and technology specialist, Exact Abacus, discusses the benefits of ‘White Glove’ fulfilment services If we think of someone who wears spotless white gloves as an integral part of what they do, it instantly conjures up images of roles that require attention to detail and high (more…)
There are huge opportunities for retailers to reduce the money they lose through returns by improving the process, says Andrew Tavener, head of marketing at Descartes. Online retailing has expanded rapidly, the growth of the Internet and advancements in delivery capabilities has seen many small businesses take advantage of this, (more…)
The idea of drones delivering all we need may be a little far-fetched but a simpler option, that of automated parcel delivery, is less so, according to Matthew Robertson, Co-CEO NetDespatch. I read a particularly interesting article this week. It focussed on technology and the changing face of delivery. Paragraph after (more…)
As demand for high-end online shopping grows, Nick Cullen, managing director, DX Express explains why the logistics industry must take responsibility for delivering a superior service. The days of using online shopping to purchase small, low-cost items are fast fading; the boom in ecommerce means that increasingly, shoppers seeking convenience are hunting deals (more…)