Retailers had to change their fulfillment operations due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The urgent situation made the stores shut down, and those who are left open had to shift their inventory to the online shoppers. The ship from store operation began with Levi’s in April.
Moody’s lead retail analyst Chares O’Shea’s takes on this situation of companies during the pandemic: “Nobody’s prepared for this.”
The dramatic shift of consumer demand in 2020 leads to a struggle for retailers like Home Depot and Walmart. During a natural disaster, retailers try to deploy their products in the locally affected area. But this pandemic also prevented the retailers from following this model.
O’Shea also said, “You couldn’t move things geographically because you had to keep things pretty balanced.”
He further said that retailers tried to stocking an entire network instead of redeploying. And it made things difficult.
According to him, retailers those who already invested in the store-based fulfillment made the best decision.
Also, as per Target, COO John Mulligan said 2020’s digital growth and sales on the shipped orders from different stores rose more than $1.6 billion.
The GlobalTranz director of customer solutions, Karen Tyndall, has remarked about the logistic challenges for the inexperienced ones.
It will need a retailer to manage space for its operational moves. It may seem difficult for them to turn the malls into a place to pack and label the orders. It will also lead to increased staff requirements.
Retailers must be aware of their procurement needs. For retailers with multiple locations should know how to deal with multiple location shipment sources.
As per the survey, 74% of the respondents are likely to work with the managed transportation providers. Those who use the inbound handling logistic, this can be hard for them, as Tyndall says.
She further said that the larger items are getting rejected due to more volume flow in the parcel network. Logistics are turning towards trucks and trailers for the smaller sized packages.
O’Shea also pointed out that not every retailer should opt for the ship from store operation due to increased cost.
“We are in … a pandemic-driven experimentation phase for retailers”. “They’re literally drinking out of a firehose, and they’re trying to figure out” how to prepare their operations for the future.” – this is how he explained the whole situation.
Arryved is a leading point of service (POS) platform which serves the craft beverage industry. It has launched a new ecommerce platform. The platform permits craft beverage and experienced venues to create custom-branded online stores. Since 2020, the beverage industry has been getting its revenue stream online, and demand for untouched orders has increased. So, Arryved brings this platform named ‘Arryved Online’.
Arryved Online accolades the company’s POS so that the needs of breweries and non-production businesses be met. This online commercial platform is a completely branded store. It conveys easy shopping and payment services, along with safe transactions. Arryved Online also charges minimum overhead fees to all merchants who join it. Like all other shopping sites, it also has safe and smart ordering with lots of other features and offers.
Being started as a POS provider in the beverage industry, Arryved is now groomed to the changing needs of the experience-based business. It has made remarkable changes in its policies that will create a stir in the ecommerce market. The policies relieve the merchants a lot and make it much easier to run their business. They have to pay just the credit card processing fees as the ecommerce platform works directly with Arryved POS.
This year, when the COVID-19 pandemic shook the US, the Arryved group has worked assiduously. It provides touch-free, safe, and sanitized products with the utmost caring delivery services. Wasting no time in April 2020, Arryved launched the platform. 20% of revenue generated by Arryved customers has come from shopping through the online commercial platform. This equals roughly $1.5 million transactions per month during this pandemic.
Arryved CEO David Norman said, “We needed to launch an ecommerce platform in April quickly, and our customers have let us know that their online stores launched on that platform helped keep their doors open during this year.” Arryved always remains indulged in evolving the solutions for the requirements of craft beverages.
Fabric is a headless ecommerce platform which seals a $9.5M seed funding. They can continue to help direct-to-consumer and B2B brands to utilize an ecommerce platform designed by them. The primary rounds were led by Redpoint Ventures, Sierra Ventures, and Expa. Alex Bard, MD of Repoint Ventures, and Tim Guleri, Managing Partner at Sierra Ventures, will join the board of Fabric.
Meanwhile, Fabric has announced its new CEO, Faisal Masud. The Seattle-based company has elected him as he has led the multibillion-dollar commerce business of Amazon, eBay, Groupon, and Staples. Masud said to Crunchbase News, “I was advising the team for a while, and it was clear that Fabric was a unique need for professional services around ecommerce.”
He also said that in the history of online trading platforms, they had been built for small and medium businesses to outgrow. But the thesis that they have chalked out is way more effective. The thesis is working with smaller business and mid-market ones and also provides a tool that grows with them. Clearly, it can be seen that the $9.5M dollar investment may bear fruit, and their goals may be accomplished.
Now seeing the pandemic caused by COVID-19 globally, many D2C and B2B brands choose to boost their online commerce. This growth in ecommerce creates an expectation of a $5 trillion ecommerce market share in 2021. Many commercial investors have invested capital in the ecommerce platform. Bard said in an interview, “Fabric has built a product so that they don’t have to rely on legacy products. If they can pull it off, this will be big for consumer experience.”
Fabric is already indulged with brands like ABC Carpet & Home, BuildDirect, and GNC to make customer experiences more quick and inexpensive. They will also invest new funds for building the platform and its apps. These funds will also mature sales and marketing processes. Masud said, “We have been fortunate to have early customers.” He also added that they have been in stealth mode till March, but with the capital they get, they expect double or triple growth in ecommerce.
For handling the eCommerce and other online businesses more strategically and organizing them with more accuracy is a vital role to play. Keeping track of the finance, accounting, risk management, data management is much crucial to arrange everything in the matter of manufacturing and to distribute involved businesses.
The competitive market requires more involvement in the compact and systematic organization of the processes. That’s why the demand for ERP tools for the vital technology solution is growing among e-commerce sellers and online business organizations.
For having exact information about the routes of the sales and the deals made by the online business and e-commerce platforms, it is important to employ the best quality ERP solution for more managed results.
What are ERP Solutions?
ERP solutions or Enterprise resource planning are the types of software that are availed by the organizations for managing their regular business activities.
Such activities include accounting, financing, project and sales management, growth and warehouse fulfilment, risk management, and many more.
The ERP process gathers all the information or data related to the business that uses integrated software for keeping track of all the important domains necessary for the smooth accomplishment of e-commerce or online business marketing.
Here are some of the benefits that come with the availing of ERP services.
More focused IT costs for improved efficiency without concentrating on the growing resources are best for staying consistent with one system.
Along with better visibility and better insight into the business, it offers constant reporting and planning of the entire system. The ERP system service offers a fast and easy generating of quick and real-time analytics; it is easy to master.
The ERP system service serves the better modularity that grows and shapes as per the business needs. Most of the ERP system software comes with a cloud-based system, which is much effective for data generation and proper management.
Also, the ERP system comes with better customer service benefits through easy marketing automation and better customer interaction. With up-to-date data automation and end-to-end tracking, better insight has been offered through the ERP software.
Top 8 ERP Solutions for E-commerce and Online Businesses
Well, for efficient management of your business activities, you need to avail of an e-commerce reliable ERP solution that covers all the required services for enhanced data security and quality maintenance.
There are plenty of ERP solutions in the market that may be a daunting task for you to choose the right one. Here are the 8 ERP solutions that you can choose for a better enterprise resource planning system for your e-commerce or online business:
1. Brightpearl
Brightpearl
It is a cloud-based ERP tool designed for retailers and wholesalers, irrespective of the size of their business. It helps in automating the back office, which is useful for keeping the merchants’ focus on the customers and the business strategies.
The complete back-office solution provided by Brightpearl includes the complete management of the sales order, financial field, CRM, or customer relationship management. Besides that, it also takes care of the managing programs of the purchasing and supply, along with the warehouse and the logistics.
Brightpearl works by offering the real-time financial insights of the business along with the inventory sales and purchasing. Therefore, the tracking of the daily basis selling, order creation, integrated shipping, flexible returns, sales, and profitability in real-time, maintaining accurate inventories, decreasing the risk of overselling- Brightpearl manages them all.
With the use of the integrated CRM system to support the real-time tracking of the customer interactions through calls, emails of the product supplier, retail customer, wholesale clients.
It also offers a variety of services through the training and support by their expert team for the better handling of the entire process. With the centralization of the accounting, sales, purchasing, and sales, it reports the data into a single system.
Therefore, the integrated warehousing offers more coordination with the customers, who operate their business across several inventory locations in the areas where the products are needed most.
With sales and order management, accounting, and supplier management, warehouse fulfilment gets proper completion.
The automatic update through all the channels for better visibility and constantly updated data the determination of the enhanced stock lets the growth become smooth and decreases the risk factors for an easy accomplishment of the e-commerce sites.
2. Microsoft
Microsoft ERP
Microsoft is another very popular ERP service provider that offers a very strategic service to all sizes of business. It’s ERP tool uses the Dynamics of the 365 Platform. This particular platform consists of six separate products like – Microsoft AX, SL, CRM, NAV, GP, RMS. Microsoft Dynamics offers strong functional support for the distributors and the manufactures that is apt for the manufacturer and distributors under the e-commerce sites and the online business.
For both the larger and medium-sized companies, the Microsoft AX offers financial management and operations. Alongside it comes with the other solutions for the purchasing, supply chain management, production planning and control, financial controlling, mobile and service, sales and marketing, for easy management of the entire process.
Diverse businesses like planning and construction, wholesale retailers, manufacturing and processing companies, project-oriented service companies, or discrete manufacturing- anyone can avail the Microsoft ERP for better arrangements.
ORACLE NETSUITE is popular for its robust functionality and long-term value-added along with its well-managed ERP service. For the streamline businesses and the fast-growing improvement, NETSUITE works in a more precise way.
With the automating of the keys in the functional areas, which are the most required field for the virtual business. Important solutions like revenue, finance, order and inventory management, billing, CRM, etc.
Finance Management includes finance and accounting, revenue recognition, planning reporting, global accounting, billing, risk, and compliances. With the order management, pricing, and promotion, order and return management, etc.
The warehouse fulfilment has been done through the inbound and outbound logistics, warehouse management system, inventory management, core HR functionality, Payroll, etc. for the compact monitoring of the back end service.
4. ECI Software Solutions
ECI Software solutions
It is one of the most efficient ERP solution tools which uses cloud-based technology for data analyzation and processing.
Having its best reputation as the support system for the manufacturing, service technologies, office supplying, etc., it has been working in this field for 20 years. ECI provides the Macola ERP for the manufactures and the distributors.
Other efficient tools like the JobBOSS for shop management and the MAX ERP for the discrete manufactures the various services have been served through best customer support and easy processing.
Multiple ranges of business organizations, with their small size of business or large e-commerce marketing for their hardware retailing, equipment maintenance and building construction, office tech, etc., can avail the ECI software solution for the high-end management.
As a solution-based software for financial organizing, human resource modulation, manufacturing management, purchasing, and inventory management, the escalation of easy growth comes more organically.
Along with the sales and growth tracking and analyzing the technical product characteristics, the management of the manufacturers and businesses gets easier.
5. Sage
Sage
For the small and medium-sized companies, Sage offers the high-end latest technology for easy automation of each and every backend services necessary for the e-commerce and online business so that the owners can stay focused on the improvement of the business strategy.
Especially for those who are emerging or budding in the field of online business, Sage supports them with easy and fast growth along with its 3 different products suitable for various purposes and solution-based marketing. With the X3, it serves as the ERP software solution for the mid-sized of the small enterprises that are new in the ground.
Therefore, the 100 is for the small and mid-sized manufacturers with aspire to become big. The 300 is for the multiple location-based manufacturers. The model of the Sage includes the manufacturing, distribution, and accounting for the business.
It also includes the tracking and completion of customer relationship management, business intelligence, and human resources. Sage’s solutions also include the ability to streamline Sage processes, enabling smoother operations and improved efficiency across various aspects of your e-commerce or online business.
With web-based software like X3, it is appropriate for the mobile devices for the easy processing of each service. The Sage is configurable and comes with easy customization, as per the role and preferences of the user, to help them invite more growth in an easy and organized way.
6. Aquilon Software
Aquilon Software
This ERP-based software tool for the best business solutions was founded in 2006. After that, it has met several developments and growth as a reliable Software supporting tool for the ERP system, which allows it to add more efficiency in helping the small or budding companies to grow faster.
The manufacturing modules of the Aquilon Software uses the end to end process for and real-time start to finish method. All the necessary services like financial management like the MRP, growth, orders.
With the implementation of the fast toolkit, it imports the data related to opening balance, order history, etc., for reducing the optional cost.
Customer service improvement is served for fully integrated business processes. Moreover, the increased sale and the margins with the proper planning, processing, and management of the reporting system helps in easy managing.
It comes with the instant drive visibility using the accurate real-time data for the up to date data for a fast batch processing. With the 360 degree inquiries, it comes with a multitude of standard reports that offers easy organizing of all the data and efficient management.
With the regular updates, it works with the latest technologies appropriate for small enterprises and businesses.
Well known as the free and open-source ERP solution, this e-commerce software works with all the basic tools which are appropriate for an easy and efficient setup for e-commerce or an online business platform.
It allows the customers to create the category and landing of the pages, with the easy and appropriate handling of the shipment and order approving, the constant generating of the reports about sales and growth of the website.
Therefore, the constant addition of the plugins and the extensions are user-friendly and offer consistent improvement of the customer’s website for making it better every day.
With the creation of the fully functional service, it offers the best suit to all types of retailing and e-commerce services.
With the multitude of updated data and the add ons, the data has been added periodically, which provides continuous and easy growth of the company in a fast way. The creation of the power system for a more managed operation collects more customer data for enhancing their shopping experience.
There is no need for any special skills, and that’s too quick. With the constant stock update and better visibility, along with the robust CRM, it enhances the growth of the company.
Therefore, the order management and the public listing, combined with the sales reporting and invoice import, linked to the payment and account tracking it comes with the fast elevation of the growth strategy in a cost-effective way.
This is another free open source e-commerce solution tool for the most enhanced ERP service which acts as a software provider with its trusted reputation in the market for the last 15 years.with their more improvements and add ons over these years; it has met more efficiency in its service offered for helping the growing e-commerce companies.
The offerings are made with their highly customizable service for your online store osCommerce is appropriate for taking care of both the front-end store catalogue and the backend management stuff like the sales and finance managing, product adding, etc.
With its easy installation, it comes with tons of features like the product and catalogue management, as per the manufacturing, categories, and attributes of the products.
Moreover, the other sub-services like special offer management, customer management, tax handling, order processing, report producing, language, and currency setting for an easier and user-interactive design.
It also uses advanced tools for the banner control, database backup, security check, and cache control for a smooth operation of the e-commerce sites.
Conclusion
ERP software system is growing in the market for its efficient and effective services that make the journey smoother for any giant companies or small startups in the field of e-commerce and online business.
Availing an ERP solution manages the backend system that cuts your cost for the individual services, thereby letting you stay focused on your company’s strategy. You can opt for any of the above-mentioned ERP solutions to upgrade your company for e-commerce and other virtual businesses.
Retail store owners and small business owners have been reorganizing their business operations to run over the past few years. To determine the trend, Chase Ink conducted a new survey. They are inquiring about the small businessmen about the change in their business policies to overcome new hurdles by the pandemic. About 64% of retail owners conveyed that the changes they acquired will be maintained in 2021 also.
Chase Ink is well aware that many small businessmen are running their business through ecommerce. So, they expanded the ‘Pay Yourself Back Offer’ to redeem points to get 25% more value for shipping and ad expenses. The Executive Director of Chase Ink, Megan Chandler, said, “We truly understand what business owners’ needs right now given the unique and challenging environment they are facing.”
The shifting of small business to ecommerce is going to be a huge movement towards becoming digital. 35% of owners said that they are forced to close their business due to pandemic. In contrast, 19% of owners started to run their business online for the first time in 2020. Survey also shows that at least 1/4th of small retail owners began to promote their business through digital advertising on social media.
These small businessmen have admitted that their business has flourished a lot by social media advertising, ecommerce platforms, and search engine advertising. About 44% of owners experience a rise in sales, with an average of 37% since 2019. Even Chandler also commented that an overall 36% rise in sales had been seen, which was quite remarkable.
The report published by Chase Ink also says that women small retail owners are mostly indulged in ecommerce. On this topic, Chandler said, “Based on conversations with our customers, we’ve seen remarkable growth among women business owners operating ecommerce business companies.” Chase Ink has also looked upon the women owners specifically by preferring them to use their Pay Yourself Back program. About 65% of women owners planned to advertise on social media.
The COVID pandemic has made various apparel and footwear companies suffer huge losses this year. These retail industries have been going through bankruptcies situation, making their business dismal. According to data given by accounting and advisory service BDO United States, in the first half of 2020, 18 retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. An additional 11 filing is done between July to August 2020.
The US apparel companies, along with footwear companies, home furnishing, and food and department stores, have been filing now. The lists of companies also include many prominent retailers like Neimann Marcus, JCPenny, Le Tote, Acena, and Stein Mart. Apart from filings, the industry is also witnessing the rise in the number of store closings by bankrupt retailers.
From January to mid-August, the store closure announcements are exceeding the previous year record of 9,500. Current data shows that apparel retailers have already closed 2,368 stores. A list of stores closing companies has been published which shows that ‘Inditex’ tops it with 1000+ closures. ‘The Children’s Place’ closed 300 stores and ‘L Brands’ closed 250 stores. Some of the major companies in the apparel industry have experienced great loss due to this COVID-19 pandemic.
The consumers’ habits of online shopping are forcing many retailers to stop their physically active stores and go-to online ecommerce business. A research firm, eMarket has shown a decline of 10.5% in total US apparel sales this year. But the ecommerce sales have risen up by 18%, following a 14% increase in 2019. In short, 2020 is set to record the highest number of retail insolvencies and store closings in a year.
The BDO United States said, “Other consumer shopping trends already underway were hastened by COVID-19.” The trend is saying that approximately 54% of bankruptcy store closings and 58% of non-bankruptcy store closings are accounted for so far. The BDO also said that the only key to a retailer’s success would be properly understanding and predicting the rapid changes in consumer preferences.
The pandemic of COVID-19 has started a year-long lockdown almost all over the world. It forced maximum businesses worldwide to go online and continue their trades. During this crisis, Shopify, a Canadian company that is basically an online business platform, came into the limelight. It has emerged as a flourishing alternative to Amazon.
In short, this pandemic causes an e-commerce boom, which drags innumerable stores, companies, businesses to join Shopify. For over 15 years, in Ottawa, Shopify permits businesses to commence an e-commerce site in just a few clicks. Recent studies show that at the end of 2019, Shopify has over 1 million e-stores, and its user base is still exploding.
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said, “It feels like the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently accelerated the growth of online commerce.” Experts say that today’s generation is widely accustomed to online shopping. So, industry giants like Shopify, Amazon are flooded with an extensive range of commerce. Experts expected that this wouldn’t take place until 2030, but the current situation called it in 2020.
Shopify is seeing an increment of 71% in the number of stores in the second quarter compared to the previous one. It is the best platform for entrepreneurs from the beginning. So, many of them believe the fact that if one is used to running one’s business on the internet, it is easy to understand. This pandemic has also helped to flourish the business of many entrepreneurs.
The co-founder of Shopify, Tobias Lutke, said last year, “Amazon is trying to build an empire, but Shopify is trying to arm the rebels.” Even Finkelstein told that to thrive the retails. It should be in the hands of many, not the few. Amidst the e-commerce boom, Shopify is enjoying the huge success of flourishing with established brands. In the coming years, Shopify will give a hard competition to Amazon. Experts are estimating that the era of digital trade and commerce has already begun.
Google has decided to readjust the Fitbit concessions to alleviate the antitrust issues of EU. EU had made a deal of $2.1 billion dollars with Google to purchase Fitbit. But due to some non-confirmed internal issues, EU is showing some disapproval concerns. Officials related to this matter said that they are putting the matter on track to secure EU’s approval for the deal.
Google has offered a restriction on the use of Fitbit data for Google ads. It facilitates the rival companies to seek connection with the android platform. Thus they are allowing third parties to access randomly to Fitbit data with their consent. Declining this fact, people said, “Google has revised the package after EU received feedback from rivals and consumers.”
This step of Fitbit concessions may turn away a charge sheet of EU, setting out specific concerns. The EU competition enforcer stopped to gain further feedback from the market. This may indicate that the changes have gained support with the commission. The enforcer, which extended the deadline for its decision from 23rd Dec to 8th Jan, declined to comment on the fact.
But Google again corrected their previous statement and said, “The deal was about devices, not data.” They further said, “The Fitbit shares have risen up to 1.58% in early U.S. trade.” Google is very confident in making better and affordable devices in the future. But the concessions, however, have failed so far to pacify rivals and consumers. A board of 19 bodies, including consumer organizations and privacy advocates in the EU, US, and Brazil, has been made. They have issued a joint letter to demand tough Fitbit concessions from Google.
The market research firm, International Data Corp, has shown data. According to data, Fitbit had a 3% share of the global wearables market in the first quarter of 2020. Google’s Fitbit is way behind Apple’s 29.3% share as well as Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei.
The prime day which happens to be Amazon’s most significant event had suffered a push back this year. Amidst the pandemic, the involvement of third-party sellers caused a hike in prime day sales. Amazon credits third-party sellers for the unexpected turn of events. According to statistics, the third-party sellers this year have earned around 3.5 dollars on the prime day, which is unexpected earnings amidst the pandemic. On evaluation, amazon has found that the earnings on prime days this year have surpassed the previous year earnings.
A prime day is an important event on amazon. The reason being prime day, every year, ensures the maximum number of subscribers. This year had wreaked havoc in every market-place. However, the prime day event, fortunately, never had to be subjected to the havoc.
In the current times. Amazon recognizes the importance of third parties in their market-place. Third-parties constitute almost 58% of the Amazon market-place. Amazon not only credits the presence of third parties for its prosperity every year but also respects the involvement of small-sized and medium-sized businesses. It is due to the presence of the third-party sellers that amazon could generate 7.5 billion in revenue in the previous years. Besides, the third parties have also aided Amazon to emerge as the no.1 e-marketer on the digital platform.
Currently, Amazon has maintained its position as the number one seller online. Speculations say that by next year, Amazon sales will cross 100 billion. To top it all, Amazon has constantly been highlighting the contribution of the third-party sellers, which are helping it to thrive and surpass other online e-commerce platforms. The biggest record that Amazon is expected to break by next year will be in the form of a mega sale. This mega sale will also be an invitation to small scale and local businesses to find more outreach.
New York economy, just like all other economies, has suffered a havoc wreck because of the pandemic. Markets have fallen, sales have decreased, which have greatly pulled down the economy. However, one ray of hope is black-owned businesses. While black-owned watch brands to have faced the sudden blow of pandemic. Their sales were at stake, but they performed comparatively better than the other markets. Evidently, the black-owned watch brands, namely Talley and Twine, a 6 years old watch company owned by Randy Williams has stated that their company was doing well in the month of July. Spring break watches have also stated along the same lines as Talley and Twine.
New York times has come up with the reports that certain pockets of e-commerce continued to flourish even amidst the pandemic. The watch brand owners also have reported that the flourishment has been possible because of alternative or new media or precisely digital marketing. The prospective sales of watch brands seemed dim in the pandemic, took to a fresh dimension on social media. The outreach towards the target audience has strengthened manifolds. Speculatively another factor that has helped the black-owned watch brands to grow is the #buyblack movement. The movement after the massacre of George Lloyd has instilled a sense of humanity in the residents of New York and the United States as a whole.
One important factor that ensured the prosperity of these watch brands is that these companies made a strong online presence. The marketing and advertising strategies that they employed on the digital platform worked in their favor. Speculations are that these particular watch brands possess the potential to quell the requisite thirsts of the fallen New York economy.
Additionally, all the watch brands like Spring Break Watches, Talley and Twine, Asorock Watches, and many more have shared their stories of origin. They also have shared certain tips for the ones who are planning to set up their own start-ups.
YouTube is kind of a big platform for vloggers, content creators, and influencers to plug products for years, and right now its parent company Google thinks that they can benefit from this by venturing into the world of online shopping.
As Bloomberg reports, Google is making YouTube “a major shopping destination.” The video site recently asked its content creators to use YouTube’s own software to tag and track products that were featured in their videos, linking out to shopping tools churned out by Google.
The goal is to turn the videos that features a product into an online shopping platform. Viewers will watch a clip and can purchase the given products directly from YouTube or Google, with the inclusion of Shopify still being tested out.
Content creators have control over what products they decide to list on YouTube, that is also being tested on just a handful of channels. But right now, the e-commerce platform is merely an experiment, and YouTube is keeping the rest of the information sealed.
With the advent of online shopping, e-commerce transactions have also become humongous. YouTube is also a great platform for entertainment, education and learning how-to videos. There are reviews; there are many self-help and newsworthy videos, which helps the users in a big way. With the content creators sharing helpful videos and products purchase videos, Google is taking the YouTube videos to another level by making it a shopping site. It is also said that Google is making YouTube a shopping site for the future and also they are testing it out on shopify. Content creators will earn commission from this deal and also, tag and track products on their own channels. Who knows what lies in the store ahead, one just has to keep waiting till the next Google update/guidelines.
Demand for logistics real estate rises as e-commerce soars in Texas. Due to COVID, there has been a surge in e-commerce transactions and thereby, leading to increase in cross-dock warehouses.
Amazon, FedEx and Lowe’s are three companies that announced distribution and logistics facilities aimed at e-commerce in the Lone Star State.
The coronavirus situation and shelter-in-place restrictions accelerated e-commerce growth and the need for warehouse space, said Kris Bjorson, head of retail e-commerce distribution in the Americas at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Inc.
In the wake of accelerating e-commerce growth, JLL started a task force for real estate and supply chain distribution needs.
“Now that U.S. consumers have helped e-commerce surge above 20% of total retail sales — a three- to five-year leap forward — we see a tremendous opportunity to help all retailers in a better way, integrated as one team with every area of expertise required today,” Bjorson said.
The new facilities will enable next-day deliveries for a range of products and provide customers a more consistent experience.
Lowe’s has opened two other cross-dock delivery terminals in the Houston area.
Lowe’s and its third-party partners will make way for nearly 5,000 jobs to support the initial expansion. As there is an increase in the increase in online shopping during the pandemic, Lowe’s also recently announced it would provide $100 million in bonuses to recognize frontline U.S. hourly associates for their continued service.
“The additional bonus will bring Lowe’s total commitment to associates and communities during the pandemic to more than $775 million,” Salazar said.
The other main companies opening distribution centers in Texas include FedEx, which leased a 750,000-square-foot facility in Dallas which will be fully operational by the end of the year.
FedEx officials told that site was chosen because of its access to highways, proximity and customers’ distribution centers.
Levi Strauss & Co, the US clothing company is known worldwide for its Levi’s brand of denim jeans has reported profitability on its e-commerce business. Although the COVID 19 pandemic has pulled down the company’s revenue, the online model has shown a lot of promise.
CEO Chip Bergh told CNBC’s Jim Cramer Wednesday that despite a double-digit drop in revenue in the third quarter, Levi’s managed to not only turn a profit but also make its e-commerce business profitable.
“We’re going to see e-commerce continue to grow,” he said in a ” Mad Money ” interview. “We’re profitable a year ahead of schedule, despite all of the accelerated investments that we’ve made.”
Although Levi’s total revenue plunged almost 27% during the three-month period ended Aug. 23, yet some of the lost business was offset by 52% growth in the company’s e-commerce sales. E-commerce made up 8% of the apparel company’s $1.06 billion in revenues, double its rate from a year ago, Bergh said.
Seven out of ten of the shoppers on its website were first-time shoppers, he added.
The $1.06 billion that Levi brought in smashed the $822.2 million that Wall Street analysts expected. The company was also expected to turn in losses of 22 cents per share, but the company showed earnings of 8 cents per share. The profit was a reversal from when Levi recorded a loss during the early months of coronavirus.
Levi’s has invested heavily in both online and brick-and-mortar operations as the retailer looks to build up its direct-to-consumer services. The company also built out its omnichannel capabilities, which Bergh said has benefitted greatly from the pandemic environment. “The pandemic has compressed what might have taken 5 or 10 years and it’s compressed it into a very, very short window, and I have to say the acceleration of our e-commerce business has been one of the beneficiaries of that,” he said.
Outside of the impact of coronavirus on sales, fashion trends further influenced by the new normal have also been a positive for Levi. As companies fast adjusting to working from the home model, the official dress code has become more casual.
The last ten years witnessed casual workplaces in the tech industry, the work-from-home reality has had a particular impact on the fashion industry. Business and professional attire is less needed when working remotely over Zoom, which has led to depressed sales in the formal suit and necktie category.
This summer the impact was very much evident with bankruptcies in holding companies of suit retailers like Men’s Warehouse and Jos. A Bank. Although clothing sales have been down overall, yet consumers are spending money on athleisure and loungewear. Denim has also benefited from trends toward casualization, Bergh said.
One area of growth was in women’s shorts, he added.“The women’s shorts business was up double digits,” he said. “Our total U.S. women’s wholesale business grew double digits this past quarter and our women’s bottoms business on a global basis drove 50% of the total online growth that we saw this past quarter and our online business was up more than 50% as a percentage of our business so really strong results.”
Boston-based Tone is announcing today that it has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Bling Capital, with participation from Day One Ventures, One Way Ventures, TIA Ventures, and executives from Google, Facebook, Dropbox, and Uber.
CEO Tivan Amour said Tone will be able to build out the “relationship automation” aspect of the product with this new funding. He also suggested that the platform could eventually expand beyond text messaging, but it sounds like that’s not a big priority. The company proudly claims on its website that Tone: done-for-you SMS Sales Engine unlocks 24% more revenue for your e-commerce store through lightning-fast text message conversations.
Although many companies are using chatbots and other forms of automation to manage their communication with customers, Tone is betting that the human element cannot be taken out of the equation.
“The traditional models of bots and humans is, ‘Hello, I’m a bot, now you get to battle with me to finally get to a human. Our version of that is, ‘I’m a human using AI to get you the answers you need more quickly.’ ”, added CEO Armour. Previously, Amour and his co-founders Vlad Pick and Kyle Weidman created a bicycle startup called Fortified Bicycle, and he said they “figured out that the best way to close our customers on these $750 to $1,000 orders was to actually engage them in text message conversations.”
When it comes to “high consideration” purchases like bicycles, people usually want to discuss their questions and concerns with another human being. Over time, the Fortified team built what Amour said was a “semi-automated system” to help its sales team stay on top of these conversations.
“We started bragging to our friends about it, ‘You’ve gotta do this, it’s the future of mobile commerce,’ ” he recalled. “And they’d say, ‘Okay, that’s cool, but we don’t have any of the systems of doing that, we don’t have the salespeople.’
Post selling Fortified Bicycle, Amour, and Pick created Tone to help any e-commerce business manage similar text message conversations.
Tone has its own team of employees to actually do the texting, assisted by software that helps them find the information they need. Integrating with e-commerce systems like Shopify and Magento, it is already working with more than 1,000 brands like ThirdLove, Peak Design, and Usual Wines — which are seeing as much as a 26% increase in revenue and a 15% increase in order size.
Amour also noted that specific Tone agents are assigned to specific brands, which means that customers will be talking to the same person whenever they have a question for that business, leading to better understanding rapport and goodwill at both sides. In some cases, customers have been talking to the same executive for months or years.
The tone however has clarified that this isn’t a person, but a single persona that’s probably an amalgamation of multiple agents.
“Particularly in a post-COVID world, it’s pretty clear that online shopping has become the dominant form of shopping, but I think nobody has thought about how you replace that human experience that you get in traditional retail. In theory, we’re a conversational sales platform more than we are an SMS company,” Amour said. “However there are a bunch of trends right now [such as the growth of mobile commerce] that make SMS the most obvious place for this sort of innovation,” he concluded.
As the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic is redefining the e-commerce business, Microsoft Edge, its chromium-based web browser is adding more teeth to its e-commerce business by getting two new features.
As a major update scheduled later this month, the first one is a price comparison tool that will allow anyone to add a product to a Collection and then click a single button to see how much that item costs at other online retailers.
Initially, the tool will only work with stores in the US, but Microsoft said it plans to make it more proactive in the future and add options for anyone to, one can add a price comparison tool to Edge through downloadable extensions from the Microsoft and Chrome Web stores.
Therefore, it is like a bonus although not a new functionality per se.
The second new feature in the pipeline by the end of the month is a tool for taking a screenshot of an entire webpage.
If one owns an Android phone like an OnePlus 8 Pro, chances are you already have a good idea of how this tool will work. By clicking on the relevant menu option, Edge will automatically scroll down the page so one can capture what is needed.
Tom Warren of The Verge’s says a future release of Edge will allow a person to mark up any screenshots taken with this feature using the stylus.
Additionally, Microsoft is loading more enhancements which include the ability to customize new tab pages with one’s own photos. Pinterest users will be thrilled to know that they’ll soon have the ability to export any websites, images, and text they’ve saved to an Edge Collections to boards on Pinterest.
Speaking of Collections, Microsoft said it’s working on letting users export them to email. It also hopes to roll out tab and history syncing sometime later by the fall season.
If a person is not already using Edge as its daily web browser, the enhancements Microsoft announced today probably won’t get one to switch. But frequent users will likely appreciate the changes. And there are more Edge users than one might think.
In April, Edge succeeded Firefox to become the second most popular desktop web browser.
Team eCommerce Next interviewed Maddy Alcala, VP of Business Development at Gooten to get insights into how to manage multiple eCommerce stores by finding a single, scalable platform to handle the process from print-on-demand manufacturing to one-time shipping
About Maddy Alcala
Maddy Alcala, VP of Business Development at Gooten, is responsible for new business acquisition and existing business growth, driving revenue expansion for the company across all geographies, verticals, and products. She began her career as an analyst on the Corporate Strategy & Development team at BlackRock, working closely with the Global Executive Committee on the creation of strategic business growth plans, and executing enterprise M&A transactions. She graduated from Colgate University and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
About Gooten
Gooten is a globally distributed production and logistics company transforming how high-growth online brands manufacture and fulfill orders. Gooten has forged a new on-demand model that enables online merchants to deliver a wide variety of high-quality products to customers without holding inventory. With over 70% U.S. production, Gooten hand selects its manufacturing partners to serve customers from 65 global locations. Its proprietary order management and decision engine ensure streamlined order routing, resulting in a 95% ship-on-time rate. Founded in 2015 and based in New York City, Gooten was named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies in 2020.
About Digital Icons from eCommerce Next:
Conceptualized and designed by Ecommerce Next, an independent media organization focusing on eCommerce and PIM, Digital Icons provides byte-sized tips, advice, and best practices to aspiring digital entrepreneurs. With a vision to capture unique experiences of industry experts from around the world, the Digital Icons series offers insights beyond borders with real business impact. For more information, please visit https://www.ecommercenext.org
Team eCommerce Next interviewed Mr. Brandon Spear, President, MSTS to get more insights on B2B companies, B2B payments, and their response to COVID. Following is our interview with him:
1) Can you tell me what MSTS does?
At its core, MSTS helps businesses facilitate trade credit programs, creating a seamless B2B payments ecosystem across all sales channels. We’re a global financial technology company, specializing in payment and credit management for B2B companies with a focus across manufacturing and distribution, retail, e-commerce, and marketplaces. Our Credit as a Service solution facilitates B2B payments by extending terms, handling invoicing, and managing collections. MSTS has 40 years of experience underwriting businesses for credit and facilitates $6 billion in transactions annually around the globe.
2) How has the pandemic altered B2B companies?
The effects of COVID-19 have accelerated the adoption of B2B e-commerce. And today’s B2B buyers are demanding a B2C-like purchasing experience when shopping online. But many manufacturers and distributors have inflexible legacy systems—not to mention strained resources and budgets, limiting their ability to offer a frictionless purchasing experience.
3) What are the biggest challenges B2B companies are facing, and how do payments play a role?
Today, manyB2B companies’ are facing complexities managing cash flow. They simply can’t afford to have too much working capital tied up in open receivables. During an economic downturn, many companies have reduced, and some have stopped, offering net terms programs entirely. Unfortunately, these programs are often key to retaining loyal customers.
4) I understand you’ve recently announced a relationship with Alibaba, can you tell us more about that?
In June, Alibaba announced Alibaba.com Payment Terms, powered by MSTS. It is the first-ever trade financing solution embedded directly into a cross-border B2B e-commerce marketplace, allowing qualified buyers to order goods and pay for them up to 60 days after they are shipped. Before then, the vast majority of cross-border trade between small businesses required full payment upfront and small businesses could not benefit from the global supply chain financing programs that their larger competitors frequently enjoyed.
5) What does the announcement mean for the industry?
The Alibaba announcement is one of many proof points that B2B marketplaces and suppliers with e-commerce sites are removing the complexity and friction of B2B transactions. In fact, a report we published last year found that 74% of B2B buyers said they would purchase from a competitor if their vendor’s e-commerce store could not keep up with their purchasing expectations. This means buyers want vendors to allow purchases across all sales channels and are flexible enough to enable purchases on terms, with purchase controls intact and adherence to invoicing requirements. In other words, a seamless buying experience creates loyal customers.
6) You brought up this idea of B2B businesses pivoting to a direct-to-customer model. How can this be done? What challenges are ahead for businesses going that route?
As a result of the pandemic and the harrows of receiving on-time payments from retailers, many brands have pivoted to a direct-to-customer model. However, manufacturers are now tasked with breaking the bulk and distributing to thousands, instead of a select few. These companies don’t typically have the resources, workflows, or operations to quickly scale and support purchasing processes to thousands of buyers. As a result, many are turning to partners for help.
7) How are we seeing the B2B space change due to the pandemic versus the B2C?
Despite B2B companies experiencing unparalleled e-commerce growth, creating a frictionless buying experience is often hampered by legacy systems. We are helping many of our new clients create a buyer and seller driven experience to enable a seamless purchasing experience. Many companies are struggling with outdated backend processes. Our new report finds that paper checks and other manual payment methods remain the primary invoice payment method for 25 percent of B2B businesses, with 48 percent saying they send invoices via email, and 18 percent sending invoices via traditional mail. So you have this interesting paradox where online sales may be doing extremely well, but you still need someone to be physically in the office to make sure checks are collected and invoices are completed. For B2B businesses, it’s imperative their payments are efficient and streamlined digitally in order to create a superb experience that keeps customers coming back. In the same way, B2C customers are seeking immediate, virtual payments, merchants and suppliers are looking to reduce order to cash.
About Brandon Spear
Brandon Spear leads MSTS with expertise in managing large, diverse global teams. His strength is discerning and focusing on the most important challenges facing an organization at a particular point in time and unifying all stakeholders behind accomplishing a set of specific goals. Brandon has a unique ability to connect across all levels of an organization, motivate staff with diverse skill sets while ensuring a common alignment and results.
About MSTS
MSTS is a financial technology company, working globally with B2B companies across transportation, manufacturing, retail and eCommerce. MSTS’ Credit as a Service solution accelerates business commerce by streamlining payments and A/R processes. On behalf of its clients, MSTS processes over $6 billion in transactions a year. MSTS, has 40 years of experience underwriting businesses for credit and facilitates transactions for its customers in over 190 countries and territories. For more information, visit https://www.msts.com.
Businesses are incorporating new digital approaches to deal with the COVID pandemic. Team eCommerce Next interviewed Mr. Calvin Carter, Founder, and CEO of Bottle Rocket to get more insights on app adoption. Following is our interview with him:
How have consumer attitudes shifted since the pandemic took hold?
Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, we have witnessed a transformation of consumer behavior like no other. As the world was thrust into a virtual living, a completely new set of habits and needs emerged overnight, including how a consumer regards brand loyalty. Earning consumers’ wallet share is now harder than ever before, as preferences for convenience and value take precedence. As a result, every business is questioning what it now takes to best serve its customers in this hyper-connected era – the answer is enhanced experiences across the board. Focus on the pain points and friction they experience doing business with you, then systematically eliminate those issues using smart, proven techniques that leverage the right technology.
How has the pandemic impacted app adoption?
In this new normal, mobile devices are leading the charge as the most preferred channel of engagement between customers and brands. From the moment of download through to conversion and engagement, mobile is increasingly an essential part of daily life, fuelled by customers’ ongoing reluctance to interact with staff or visit physical stores.
Even prior to COVID-19, an overwhelmingly large percentage of the population fell into a category that we like to refer to as ‘Connected Customers’. The pandemic radically accelerated Connected Customers’ preferences while also accelerating the need for digital touchpoints among all consumers. In today’s world, it’s imperative that a brand offers customers a safe and convenient way to access products and services, and for the foreseeable future, this means digital touchpoints are key.
What are App Clips?
Home to nearly two million apps, the App Store ecosystem is booming. Finding new apps to download has become more challenging for consumers, who spend almost all of their time using just five different apps. Lack of visibility is therefore making it difficult for retailers to convince users to download their app and perform a valuable action worthy of returning to the brand or the app. A new mobile feature called App Clips has been created and launched by Apple to eliminate this friction and showcase a specific portion of the brand’s app to users without having to fully download the app or even know one exists.
An App Clip is a small part of an overall app experience, designed to be discovered the moment it is needed. App Clips load on mobile devices within seconds for consumers to seamlessly perform specific tasks and can be accessed by scanning QR codes, kiosks, and other URL-powered touchpoints – eliminating the need to explicitly download the app itself and increasing the opportunities a brand has to communicate with and best serve its customers.
Why do retailers need them?
App Clips are set to supercharge the trend towards mobile commerce and transform retailers and the way they engage with their customers forever. App Clips are more than just a convenient shortcut, they hold the potential to turn every user into a customer and offer a new avenue of support for them right when it’s needed most.
For example, while grocery shopping you could scan a code at the checkout line to automatically be added to the loyalty program AND get points from your current purchase. One simple scan and now your brand is in their pocket. Or as you enter a mall you can scan a code to get a mall directory for wayfinding and later opt-in to promotions from stores you visit.
How can App Clips help retailers acquire more customers and improve sales?
With many users not wanting to commit to a full app download, App Clips are making it easier to check out seamlessly via Apple Pay. If a customer is in a rush and doesn’t wish to stand in a long line at a store, they can simply launch the App Clip and pay, eliminating the chance that they would otherwise leave a store. App Clips also facilitate additional access to deals and coupons at specific locations, as well as signup experiences for loyalty programs. Customers will in turn be grateful for relevant information when they need it and be more likely to stick with a brand and download the entire app at their convenience.
How will the overall customer experience be impacted by App Clips?
App Clips are streamlining the entire customer experience, and are designed to be contextual, specific, timely, and very low friction. For example, by scanning touchpoints around physical product environments, customers can invoke Augmented Reality (AR) visualization experiences – particularly useful when browsing furniture or other sizeable purchases. Consumers can also receive notifications about certain products, effectively answering questions before customers even think of them. Then once a certain task is complete, the App Clip disappears, adding no unnecessary demands onto the end-to-end journey.
Essentially App Clips break down the barrier to engaging with a brand at the moment. Those brands that support App Clips properly will see increased conversion, loyalty signup, and repeat visits.
How will App Clips impact businesses in the run-up, and during, major shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Accessibility to App Clips via map location cards will prove extremely valuable to locking in customers this Black Friday. Map cards leverage location-specific data, so savvy shoppers can get ahead before even arriving at a particular store. Prior to arrival, App Clips allow users to search items to check if they’re in stock and pre-order and even make reservations while on the way to that location.
Brands can also appear more responsive and helpful during busy shopping periods by offering automated chat services. Any company with overwhelming customer service demands can offload some of their customers onto intelligent assistants and address their needs faster and better.
App Clips can even stop Black Friday fights at major retailers by allowing the customer to simply scan an item, pay for it on your phone and head to the pick-up area.
What future trends do you see taking shape in the post-pandemic retail space?
The COVID-19 crisis has changed the retail landscape for good, and we should expect to see the trends towards mobile channels and digital experience adoption stick, and even intensify. As more and more brands enable this solution, App Clips will become table stakes very quickly. Consumers will come to expect the utmost convenience wherever and whenever they shop, and retailers must change the way they connect with them to remain relevant in the post-pandemic retail space. Future brands will meet their customer where they are, and right now that’s on mobile.
About Calvin Carter
Calvin Carter, Bottle Rocket’s founder, and CEO built Bottle Rocket on the belief that exceptionally innovative technology redefines our lives. In March 2008, the day after Steve Jobs announced the iPhone was open to third-party developers and months before the App Store opened, Calvin launched Bottle Rocket. His visionary and entrepreneurial spirit would earn him the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2013. Calvin has pushed Bottle Rocket to become a renowned digital transformation company that connects future-focused brands and their customers through sophisticated yet simple experiences. With its now approximately 250 Rocketeers, Bottle Rocket has concepted, designed, and developed more than 450 award-winning, preeminent experiences to date and continues to set new standards in connecting people to what they want.
About Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket has been a thought leader at the intersection of transformative technology and business innovation since our inception in 2008. Headquartered in Dallas, we provide end-to-end experience transformation services that produce undeniable value for many of the world’s most successful companies. Our over 450 experiences to date have created meaningful connections between brands and consumers and have changed how our clients compete and win in the marketplace. With the Connected Customer at the center, we help our clients grow by creating experiences that matter for your business and your customers. Bottle Rocket is a strategic partner within the world-wide WPP integrated communications network.
Hennes & Mauritz AB, the Swedish MNC clothing-retail company known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers & children, has announced the closure of 250 stores globally next year as it plans to ramp up its digital e-commerce business.
As of November 2019, H&M operates in 74 countries with over 5,000 stores under the various company brands, with 126,000 full-time equivalent positions. It is the second-largest global clothing retailer, behind Spain-based Inditex.
The shares of H&M rose more than 7 percent after the company said online sales were on the upswing and the returned to profit in the third quarter.
Commenting amongst the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, its chief executive Helena Helmersson said,” More and more customers started shopping online during the pandemic, and they are making it clear that they value a convenient and inspiring experience in which stores and online interactions and strengthen each other.”
The company further commented that it was working to improve its supply chain to increase the availability of inventory and the speed of deliveries.
H&M reported that at the beginning of the third quarter, roughly 900 of its 5,000 stores were temporarily closed, as COVID 19 hit the retailers hard. Lockdowns further aggravated the situation as it leads to unpaid rents and staff furloughs, and by the end of the quarter ending Aug. 31, over 200 stores were still temporarily shut.
Ms. Helmersson however concluded on a positive note saying, “Although the challenges are far from over, we believe that the worst is behind us and we are well placed to come out of the crisis stronger.”
FedEx Corporation, the U.S. MNC delivery American delivery services company is beefing up its home delivery services as e-commerce items are getting bulkier which include products such as exercise equipment and home improvement items, which shoppers are buying online, thanks to a surge in sales due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.
The company is known for its overnight shipping service and pioneering a system that could track packages and provide real-time updates on package location, a feature that has now been implemented by most other carrier services. Its final -mile deliveries of bulky goods through its FedEx Direct service (operated by its FedEx Freight arm) have grown from 80% of the US market to 90%, and to support this, the integrator is building five large package facilities and expanding three others.
FedEx,also one of the top contractors for the US government has historically discouraged the transportation of bulky items in their parcel networks, especially those that cannot be handled by its conveyor systems.
Competitor company UPS had announced in summer a surcharge of $50 for large shipments and a whopping $250 for shipments that exceed its maximum limit. Just last year FedEx launched a pilot programme for deliveries of bulky online purchases and began to set up special facilities to handle this voluminous traffic.
CEO of logistics consultancy Spend Management Experts, John Haber agrees this type of traffic is simply too big and fast-growing to ignore. He further added that the pandemic had given a sharp boost to the segment’s growth, as consumers ordered home office and exercise equipment and spent more on home improvement.
“Either they refuse this traffic or they find a way to deal with it. If they refuse it, they hand a competitive advantage to others, ” said Haber.
FedEx delivered more than 750,000 bulky shipments between 1 June and 31 August, the period when coronavirus was at its peak and the country saw total lockdowns.
Competition for the transportation of bulky products has gained a lot of momentum and intensity. On Sept 16, Forward Air announced the acquisition of CLW Delivery, a $20m-a-year trucking company, which specialises in final-mile and in-home installation, for $5.5m. This was Forward Air’s fourth acquisition in this sector, which began with rival Towne in 2015.
Last month, non-asset transport provider AIT Worldwide Logistics launched “an economical large parcel delivery service” across the US. A lot of players are moving into this space,” Haber said. “Everybody is trying to come up with a solution.”But FedEx and UPS still don’t want big, bulky shipments in their parcel networks, and the FedEx Direct service through FedEx Freight is an effort to solve this conundrum, he added.
The old set-up was unwieldy, Mr Haber explained: “With FedEx, at one point you could have four different pick-ups in a day. For a shipper, that meant having to isolate the volumes and schedule four pick-ups.” While the expanded delivery of bulky items is a stab at this segment, it is not an all-out effort to build up this business, he pointed out.
FedEx offers two service variants, with the standard option delivering the item into the first room in a house, and the second to a room of the customer’s choosing, plus removal of the packaging. However, there is no set-up or installation included, which will diminish the service’s appeal to many consumers, believes Haber. And nor are FedEx and UPS likely to try to attract this business with aggressive pricing, he added.
“They’re pricing it to make money,” he said, adding that the most recent round of surcharges targeted large B2C shippers and bulky shipments.“The surcharges are not going to go away. Profitability is a key component of this,” he said in a concluding statement.
Bottle Rocket
