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The United States Postal Service is Ready for The Holidays

The United States Postal Service is Ready for The Holidays
Archives, Global Trade Daily, News, Uncategorized

The United States Postal Service is Ready for The Holidays

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Extended Retail Hours at Many Post Of At the Postal Service, we know the holidays are a hectic time of year. To make shipping convenient for customers, the Postal Service is extending hours at Post Offices across the nation.

Select Postal facilities in the Massachusetts / Rhode Island District are extending their hours and will provide full retail services, including stamp sales and package acceptance. Customers may click this link 2022 USPS Post Office Holiday Closings & Hours | USPS for the USPS holiday service schedule. Enter a ZIP Code to search for a Post Office near you to see the available services and holiday hours.

The Postal Service is focused on delivering for our nation this holiday season.

The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to more than 163 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

merchandise aflac
Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily, International Trade, Uncategorized

Are E-tail Returns Burning a Hole in your Bottom line? Consider in-kind Donations

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The National Retail Federation estimates that about 20 percent of merchandise sold online is returned by the customer. And that’s a costly proposition for e-tailers. In most cases, returns mean the seller has paid for shipping twice (to and from a customer) without getting a sale.

Returned products need to be inspected and repackaged, which takes valuable time.  That’s if (a big IF) the merchandise is returned in good condition.  Plus, the retailer is taking a chance that the product won’t go out of style or expire before it can be resold. It’s unlikely most returns can be resold at full price, so even brand-new merchandise can end up at a liquidation warehouse or in the trash heap.

Rather than trashing merchandise or selling it to a liquidator, where you can’t control brand identity, consider donating returned merchandise. The resulting tax break may be quite handsome, and it may even be more financially beneficial than reselling the merchandise at a cut-rate price.

Just donating the goods to a nonprofit, though, comes with its own headaches. The retailer has the task of vetting an organization, making sure it will accept what’s being offered, understanding how it will be valued, and figuring out how and where merchandise has to be delivered.

Gifts-in-kind donation organizations do that legwork for you. These organizations will accept most of your overstocks and returns, whether it’s a truckload or a few cartons, at any time of the year; ensure those items go to qualified nonprofit organizations, and, if you wish, give you a full accounting of how your donations were used.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, quality, brand new merchandise is given each year to U.S. schools, churches and non-profits, allowing them to stretch their budgets, get more done with less money and even expand services.

Donated merchandise runs the gamut from educational products, safety supplies, books, clothing, crafts, office items and a myriad of other goods.  Many of this country’s leading corporations have discovered that in-kind giving is extremely beneficial to their bottom line and they’re doing something good to boot.

Giving in-kind makes you feel good, and you are assured that your merchandise won’t end up on the open market or have the brand diluted. Plus, your company may qualify for a substantial tax deduction.

Section 170(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code states that when Regular C corporations donate inventory to qualified nonprofits (also known as 501(c)(3), they can receive a tax deduction equal to up to twice the cost of the donated products.

Under the tax code, deductions are equal to the cost of the inventory donated, plus half the difference between the cost and fair market-selling price, not to exceed twice the cost.

For example, if your product costs $10 and you retail it for $30, the difference is $20. Half of $20 is $10. So, $10 (product cost) plus $10 (half the difference) equals a $20 deduction. As $20 does not exceed twice the product cost, it is an allowable deduction. It’s that simple.

There’s no one solution to the issues caused by customer returns. But, in-kind donations can be an integral part of the solution for your business and will certainly help others.

business applications
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Cities With the Largest Increase in New Business Applications Since COVID

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard on small businesses, which are estimated to employ nearly half of all American workers. A recent Federal Reserve Bank study noted that the pandemic caused an additional 200,000 businesses to close their doors last year, with small businesses comprising the bulk of the difference.

However, it hasn’t been all bad news for the nation’s small businesses. A real-time survey of business applications conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau offers encouraging results: the increase in business shutdowns combined with changes in consumer preferences created gaps for new entrants to fill, resulting in a strong resurgence of new businesses. Between 2019 and 2020, there was a nearly 25% increase in new business applications, and that increase has held relatively steady through 2021. About one-third of current applications are considered “high-propensity applications,” or those with a high likelihood of turning into a business with payroll.


At the industry level, the increase in new business applications is being led by the retail trade sector of the economy. When comparing the number of applications from 2019 to 2020, retail trade applications increased by 59%, followed by the transportation sector which increased nearly 35%. Further, the largest percentage increases in applications were more likely to occur in those sectors already generating the highest number of applications overall. Together, this indicates the start of a robust trend for total small business creation in the economy.

While total business applications grew markedly since the beginning of the pandemic, the strongest increases appeared in the Southeast. Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana lead the nation with application increases of over 55%. Yet, not all states fared well, as Alaska and North Dakota each saw small, single-digit percentage decreases over the same time period. At the metro level, those reporting the largest increases in new business applications are also found in the Southeast, with a handful of locations in Texas and the Midwest also ranking highly.

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau. To determine the locations with the largest increase in new business applications since COVID-19, researchers at Self Financial calculated the percentage change in new business applications from 2019 to 2020. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher total change in business applications from 2019 to 2020 was ranked higher.

Here are the large U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest increase in new business applications since the start of the pandemic.

 

Metro Rank Percentage change in business applications (2019-2020) Total change in business applications (2019-2020) Total business applications in 2020 Total business applications in 2019
Memphis, TN-MS-AR    1    +77.7% +11,554 26,431 14,877
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA    2    +56.8% +73,365 202,603 129,238
New Orleans-Metairie, LA    3    +55.6% +10,659 29,830 19,171
Cleveland-Elyria, OH    4    +54.5% +11,302 32,045 20,743
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI    5    +49.7% +51,394 154,758 103,364
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI    6    +48.9% +26,947 82,098 55,151
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI    7    +37.6% +5,773 21,127 15,354
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX    8    +37.4% +32,185 118,183 85,998
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC    9    +35.3% +11,879 45,487 33,608
Birmingham-Hoover, AL    10    +35.3% +4,070 15,593 11,523
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC    11    +35.0% +6,683 25,783 19,100
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD    12     +33.4% +25,103 100,265 75,162
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA    13    +32.2% +10,944 44,887 33,943
Fresno, CA    14    +32.1% +1,782 7,332 5,550
Jacksonville, FL    15    +31.8% +7,537 31,202 23,665
United States    –    +24.2% +848,210 4,356,870 3,508,660

 

For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, you can find the original report on Self Financial’s website: https://www.self.inc/blog/us-cities-increase-in-new-business-applications

consumer spending
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

States With the Biggest Drop in Consumer Spending During COVID-19

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The latest surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant once again disrupted an economic recovery that has been uneven to date. While most jurisdictions did not resort to the same sorts of public health restrictions instituted in early 2020, many businesses struggled to operate at full capacity with employees sick due to COVID and many consumers behaving more cautiously. Industries that have been hard-hit throughout the pandemic, like restaurants and airlines, experienced new disruptions heading into 2022.

Economic challenges associated with Omicron and future variants could once again depress consumer spending, piling on top of an unusual decrease in consumer expenditures during the pandemic’s first year. For most of the last 60 years, consumer spending has increased year over year, even during economic downturns. But from 2019 to 2020, overall consumer spending fell by 2.6%, the largest year-over-year decline since the Great Recession.

COVID’s effects on consumer spending have not been consistent across all categories, which means that some industries are struggling more than others. Public health restrictions affecting certain types of businesses and consumers’ shifting preferences from spending more time at home have driven trends in expenditures. In some cases, these factors have created divergent spending trends between similar categories. For example, spending on food services and accommodations dropped by 20.5% from 2019 to 2020, while spending on groceries was up 11.2% over the same period. Similarly, recreation services—which includes businesses like sports venues and theaters—saw the largest overall decline at 28.6%, but recreational goods and vehicles saw the largest overall increase at 13.1%.

In addition to differences by spending category, declines in consumer spending also varied by geography. The region with the greatest drop in spending was the Mideast (including Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland), with a 4.07% decrease from 2019 to 2020, followed by the Far West at 4.03%. In contrast, the Rocky Mountain region had the lowest decrease, with consumers spending only 1.25% less in 2020 than in 2019.

Among states, most of the locations where consumer spending dropped the most were found in the Mideast, Far West, and New England regions. For most of these states, the declines are explained in large part by decreases in spending on recreation services, transportation services, or both. Recreation services were slow to return to full capacity in many locations because they were considered less essential and frequently likely to contribute to the spread of the coronavirus. Areas with high populations of commuters usually relying on vehicles or public transportation, like densely populated areas in the Northeast, saw declines in transportation spending with the greater transition to remote work.

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s Personal Consumption Expenditures. To determine the states with the biggest drop in spending during COVID-19, researchers at Filterbuy calculated the percentage change in per capita consumer spending from 2019 to 2020. In the event of a tie, the state with the lower total change in per capita consumer spending from 2019 to 2020 was ranked higher.

Here are the states with the biggest drop in spending during COVID.

State Rank Percentage change in consumer spending (2019-2020) Total change in consumer spending (2019-2020) Per capita consumer spending (2020) Per capita consumer spending (2019) Category with the largest decrease in spending
Alaska    1    -5.4% -$2,760 $48,739 $51,499 Recreation services
Massachusetts    2    -5.0% -$2,762 $52,001 $54,763 Transportation services
Hawaii    3    -4.7% -$2,233 $45,080 $47,313 Transportation services
New York    4    -4.6% -$2,416 $49,735 $52,151 Transportation services
Minnesota    5    -4.6% -$2,129 $44,403 $46,532 Recreation services
Maryland    6    -4.4% -$2,051 $44,331 $46,382 Recreation services
California    7    -4.3% -$2,086 $46,636 $48,722 Recreation services
Pennsylvania    8    -3.9% -$1,828 $44,650 $46,478 Recreation services
Vermont    9    -3.8% -$1,888 $47,397 $49,285 Recreation services
Nevada    10    -3.8% -$1,532 $39,211 $40,743 Gasoline and other energy goods
North Dakota    11    -3.7% -$1,668 $43,945 $45,613 Gasoline and other energy goods
Rhode Island    12    -3.7% -$1,660 $42,944 $44,604 Gasoline and other energy goods
Washington    13    -3.5% -$1,647 $46,041 $47,688 Transportation services
Delaware    14    -3.2% -$1,526 $45,434 $46,960 Transportation services
Florida    15    -3.1% -$1,376 $43,615 $44,991 Transportation services
United States –    -3.0% -$1,311 $42,635 $43,946 Recreation services

 

For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, you can find the original report on Filterbuy’s website: https://filterbuy.com/resources/consumer-spending-covid/

packaging
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

How to Make Your Logistics More Sustainable with Green Delivery Packaging

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As the online retail industry continues to boom, delivery packaging is becoming an ever more important sustainability concern. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in online orders, and with technology constantly developing and improving, this is going to continue to increase.

In an article written by Kayla Jenkins entitled “How has E-Commerce Adapted During the COVID-19 Outbreak?” we see that there has been a 32.4 percent increase in e-commerce sales in 2020 and e-commerce shops as a whole achieved sales in the value of over $270 billion. That is a lot of boxes and packing being used; which will lead to a lot of waste and packaging materials that take hundreds of years to biodegrade.

A lot of companies are guilty of not being sustainable when it comes to packaging. Boxes are unnecessarily being used to ship slightly smaller boxes; styrofoam peanuts are being thrown into boxes and can take up to 500 years to biodegrade. In the United States, about 165 billion packages each year are shipped with cardboard which roughly equates to over one billion trees. In a study carried out by Statista, it states that 77 percent of people who order online prefer packaging that fits the actual size of the product to reduce their impact on the environment.


 

Over at 2Flow, they have put together an infographic entitled “How to Make Your Logistics More Sustainable with Green Delivery Packaging.” The infographic outlines the environmental impact of packaging; the opportunities that come with having a more green approach; the business benefits of going green; the goals of sustainable delivery packaging;  how to go about making your product delivery packaging more green; and what the business experts have to say on the topic by showing suitable case study examples.

How to make your logistics more sustainable with green delivery packaging

 

automation
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

Rise of the Machines: Two Factors Driving Automation

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Today I want to talk a little about automation. I’ve talked earlier about the future of work, and there are some obvious trends like remote work and digital transformation. But automation is a significantly growing field, especially in retail markets. Trends in the industry respond to market pressures that affect the supply of and demand for labor. When human labor is cheap, automation will be used less. When human labor is scarce or expensive, automation will be used more. Today, I want to focus on two key market pressures that are driving demand for more automation.

First, declining birth rates are signaling potential labor shortages in the future. According to the CDC, in 2020, the total fertility rate (TFR) for the U.S. dropped to 1637.5 births per 1000 women, a decline of 4% compared to 2019. While some might blame the pandemic for the decrease, the 2020 number follows a downward trend that started in the 1970s. With fertility below the replacement rate of 2100 births per 1000 women, the U.S. labor force may be starting to decline. With an aging population and fewer workers, companies will likely be forced to increase automation or increase pay to attract and retain employees.

Second, rising labor costs are already encouraging companies to experiment with more automation. Depending on which pundit you ask, you will get very different answers as to why labor costs are rising now, but whatever the reason, businesses are grappling with higher personnel costs. As an article in Forbes recently noted, “The law of supply and demand says this scarcity makes existing workers more valuable, letting them insist on higher pay and better conditions.” As a result, some companies are turning to automation.  Fast-food chains are experimenting with automated fry cooks. The drive-thru is also poised to see more automation. Other experiments include cashier-less grocery stores and last-mile delivery.

Retail automation, therefore, seems poised for growth, but automation likely will not be a good fit for every job. Peanut the robot, for example, demonstrates that automation cannot effectively replace wait staff yet, but you may have noticed an increase in self-checkout lines in many stores. Kiosk ordering at restaurants has also been rising in popularity over the last few years, and as noted above, fast-food restaurants are experimenting with highly automated systems. In many cases, automation has the advantage of driving down operating costs. Robotic systems, for example, may have high capital costs, but they do not tire or want health benefits like human workers. Therefore, robotic systems can reduce long-term costs and save companies money.

All of these automation systems build on technology trends that have been growing for years: voice recognition, touchscreen interfaces, online shopping, and robotics, to name a few. Companies investing in these spaces will likely do well once retail automation really takes off. Some may worry that automation will eliminate jobs, but that likely will not become a serious problem. Throughout history, automation has eliminated some jobs while creating others.  I recommend worrying less about the jobs that automation will eliminate and instead focusing on what new kinds of jobs will be enabled by the new technologies.

_____________________________________________________________

Louis Lehot is an emerging growth company, venture capital, and M&A lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Silicon Valley. Louis spends his time providing entrepreneurs, innovative companies, and investors with practical and commercial legal strategies and solutions at all stages of growth, from the garage to global.

TMS
3pls, Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

TMS – The Digital Disruption Enabler for 3PLs

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It’s clear that digital transformation is rapidly upon us in transportation and is changing the way managed transportation 3PLs and truckload brokerages are doing business. Advances in technology, adoption of APIs, and huge disruptor companies are evolving the market faster than most can keep up. This transformation is only accelerating.

Disruptive Companies Are Changing Customer Expectations

Uber Freight, Convoy, and Amazon Freight are examples of the new digital freight marketplaces (DFM). A DFM is designed to allow shippers to book truckloads in the spot market electronically – usually over an app or an API. It’s a service that gives real-time truckload quotes, electronic tendering, and real-time tracking. If your business is primarily a classic brokerage, then this affects you.

The DFMs are already changing the way many shippers do business. These marketplaces are not going to erase classic brokerage, but there is no doubt they will change it and the way that many are doing brokerage. Not that classic brokerage is going away anytime soon, but we are seeing a rapid evolution of customer expectations. Customers’ digital expectations for visibility, automation, tracking, quoting, and payment are now growing and will soon evolve into general requirements.

To be clear, only very few companies with deep pockets can set up a DFM. A mid-sized brokerage firm trying to compete with what Uber Freight is doing is unrealistic. Instead, companies can look at their own strengths and carve their own path. LSPs (3PLs and Brokers) have the opportunity to write their own digital transformation story or run the risk of remaining complacent in a changing world of digital technology.

What Is Your Digital Transformation Strategy?

Every LSP company should be asking themselves how they are dealing with digital transformation. As an LSP, the details of digital disruption are unique to your business model, and it’s important to have a plan. Yet many companies overthink the issue or feel it’s too large of a task to do anything about. History shows us that most winning strategies come from simple core ideas, not just massive disruptors.

Innovative companies know that disruption creates opportunity. And it’s clear that the digital transformation going on in transportation will create opportunities. Every LSP needs to look at their own business model, figure out what makes them unique, and carve a path. It’s ineffective to try to duplicate what the high-profile companies are doing. It would be like trying to replicate what Amazon did for retail. Competing against Amazon in retail is reserved for the very few, yet many have learned how to profit off Amazon by creating their own specialized fulfillment model. The same is true of the digital disruption going on in transportation.

Very few companies should be looking to compete directly against Uber Freight or Convoy. Yet all should be looking at their own model and chart their own digital transformation path. This is where transportation management software like 3Gtms is uniquely positioned to help. It is not the system that will turn an LSP into the next Uber Freight, but it will serve as the central platform – the intelligent system of record that allows flexibility in how an LSP executes its own unique business model. A TMS is the central point of an LSP’s transformation – it’s the digital disruption “enabler.”

Putting a Digital Transformation System in Place

When it comes to system structure, the key to designing a good environment starts at the core. And a successful core includes functionality and automation that supports business objects, workflow, intelligence, and integrations. For an LSP, that system is their TMS, as the TMS runs their transportation operations. Call it their “central rally point” for information or their “single source of truth.” A technology that connects customers, vendors, and carriers while serving as the platform to leverage digital disruption opportunities. A Fully Connected Transportation Management System goes beyond simple RESTful API integrations because it connects natively to other business systems and operates as an enabler for different technologies.

Leveraging a cloud-based TMS as a rallying point combines information from integrations with business intelligence for a total technology package. Turning data into business intelligence, workflows, and automation is more complicated than mapping fields. Most systems can use an API to map fields but lack functionality to determine rates/margin, find a distance, calculated drive times, chose equipment type, and most importantly, identify missing data and create this data when necessary. Technology has to be smart to execute on digital transformation opportunities. Exception-based management is a basic requirement as next-level systems look to manage as many exceptions as possible so users can focus on true issues and generate more business.

A solution like 3Gtms delivers the different integrations and technology required to build a successful digital transformation strategy. For example, the solution includes connections to load boards for TL capacity, mileage engines, tariff services for rates, OCR for paperwork and document management, ELD and visibility mapping services, carrier insurance onboarding, rate index data, informational portals, and many other features. It’s the robustness of the software in combination with the software’s integrations to create an actionable platform for LSPs to get ahead. The technology’s ability to scale is also essential, especially when maximizing opportunities created by larger DFMs.

This is where LSPs look at the technology puzzle they wish to solve. Identify customer needs, capture a larger target market, and expand business lines. What digital components do you need to meet these goals and grow your business? Is it time to explore outside of traditional silos? For example, brokers and distributors are doing more managed transportation while TL fleets are offering more 3PL services. Understand what your company does best and what your customers need, then write your own digital disruption story.

Embracing Opportunities to Digitally Disrupt

This brings us back to the digital disruption going on in the transportation industry. The opportunistic LSPs will carve their own path and realize that the key to growth lies in their core technologies. Leveraging a TMS to rally around will centralize their information and enable transportation execution regardless of their planned strategies. It’s here that 3Gtms is differentiated in the marketplace as a single platform that marries technical abilities and integrations in the LSP space. Because of this, 3G customers quickly realize the importance of having a central TMS and how this technology helps obtain their vision.

It’s an exciting point in the history of logistics as digital changes emphasize supply chain technology and the need to utilize digital strategies for success. As more LSPs upgrade their technology stack, they will be better positioned to leverage new digitally-driven opportunities. And by using a scalable platform like 3Gtms, they get advanced TMS functionality for today and all the tomorrows to come.

Are you an LSP trying to decide if you should leverage a TMS to meet your digital transformation goals? Use this checklist to see if any of your objectives can be solved by 3Gtms.

Examples:

-Do you need APIs and portals for customers and carriers to interact with you?

-Do you want to use TL automation to streamline processes?

-Do you need logistics exception reporting and automation?

-Do you need workflow and process automation?

-Do you struggle to connect your ERP, OMS, WMS, carrier, customer, and vendor data?

-Do your customers need simple portals for their CSR’s to quote?

-Do you use standalone load boards, visibility trackers, SMC3 rating, distance calculations, carrier tendering, OCR document management, or other disconnected systems?

________________________________________________________________

JP Wiggins is the co-founder and Vice President of Logistics for 3G. 3G is a leading provider of cloud-based end-to-end transportation management software (TMS) for omnichannel shippers, e-commerce companies, 3PLs, and freight brokers. Our solutions include 3Gtms, our multi-modal transportation planning, optimization, execution, and settlement system; and Pacejet, our advanced multi-carrier shipping software. For more information, visit 3Gtms.com.

robotization
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

Goods-to-Person Robotization is Key in Meeting the New Logistics Challenges Facing the Cosmetic Industry

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The cosmetics industry in France is a major driver of the economy. Despite the drop-off in exports caused by the pandemic, the sector achieved total revenues of over €15.7 billion in 2020 and leads the world with a 24% share of the global cosmetics market. The exceptional circumstances over the past year have had another effect on the industry – they have amplified consumer trends and pre-existing purchasing practices such as personalization, transparency and the boom in online sales. The net effect has been the total disruption of the product mix occasioned by, for example, the surge in demand for natural, healthy products and a fall in the demand for lipstick.

Against this background, in addition to its usual challenges – time to market, the growing demand for personalization and the management of peaks in activity – the cosmetics industry is being compelled to change and adapt its logistics model. Warehouses are having to automate storage and order picking without losing sight of the particular nature of personal care products – high unit values, tight technical specifications, critical shelf life and low individual despatch unit volumes – in order to be fully effective strategic assets, delivering products increasingly quickly and meeting new consumer expectations.

The benefits of Goods-to-Person robotization in meeting new logistics challenges

As new trends coalesce into a dynamic that demands a response, Goods-to-Person robotization – where robots transport shelf units containing goods to operators – is set to revolutionize logistics in the cosmetics industry.

– Given the change in consumer behaviour and habits: In response to new consumption trends, today’s cosmetics industry is setting its sights on omnichannel sales and distribution together with digital technology. Consumers are demanding a simplified buying journey in every channel, from next-day delivery by e-commerce sites to click-and-collect, and a smooth item return process for online purchases. In warehouses, this rapid omnichannel delivery is translating into an exponential increase in retail order picking activity, which is both time- and resource-consuming.

Advantages of Goods-to-Person robotization: Besides reducing storage space by up to 30% using mobile shelf units where many products can be economically stored in small quantities, the Goods-to-Person robotics solution guarantees quicker picking of retail orders. It eliminates unnecessary movement and actions by operators to ensure the careful handling of fragile products. The gain in picking productivity can be as much as 40%.

– In this age of hyper-personalization: The other great challenge facing the cosmetics industry is the advent of hyper-personalized cosmetics where the ingredients and packaging are adapted to match consumers’ individual requirements. To this is added a boom in kits that allow consumers to make their own beauty products. The impact of these developments on warehouses is an increase in the range of products to be stored and picked, the need for short or on-demand production runs complying with the regulations on cosmetics (which are particularly demanding in Europe) and the need for personalized packaging combined with adherence to tight delivery times.

Advantages of Goods-to-Person robotization: Goods-to-Person robotization enables small quantities to be picked rapidly and moved seamlessly to areas where orders are personalized in terms of labeling, preparation and/or packaging.

– Ever-increasing trackability and transparency: Another fundamental trend rapidly becoming established in the cosmetics industry is the demand for natural products and the consumers’ need for transparency, reinforced by the Covid-19 crisis. Consumers now want sustainable products, in phase with their concerns, together with all the necessary information on their ingredients, origin and manufacturing process. Their desire to care both for themselves and the environment looks set to continue as “clean” beauty, eco-friendly packaging, short supply circuits and products made in France gain in popularity. Trackability of products in the warehouse is a key factor in meeting the consumer-driven demand for transparency.

Advantages of Goods-to-Person robotization: Scallog’s Goods-to-Person robotics solution makes it possible to optimize locations according to batches, expiry dates etc. and to ensure flawless trackability throughout the picking process.

– And therefore security: This demand for trackability is linked to that of security. Cosmetics products are recognized for their high monetary value, which increases the risk of theft. Cosmetics manufacturers must mitigate the risk of products “flying away” from warehouses that run a multitude of processes and are often staffed by a high proportion of temporary staff. Any solution that helps to combat theft and shrinkage improves the manufacturer’s margin.

Advantages of Goods-to-Person robotization: The Goods-to-Person system is based on a fully enclosed and secure storage area in which robots operate, moving shelf units. In addition, when picking orders, operators are guided and monitored in everything they do.

– Many triggers that cause peaks in shopping activity: The cosmetics industry today offers consumers many incentives to shop in order to boost its sales. To the traditional festive season, always a time of high shopping activity, are now added promotional offers, Valentine’s Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and similar “special” events that result in booming sales of perfumes and cosmetics over a few days. Warehouses must once again cope with a significant increase in order picking over a short period.

Advantages of Goods-to-Man robotization: Scallog’s Goods-to-Person robotics solution absorbs peaks by smoothing order picking efficiently and cost-effectively. It handles increases in order picking requirements by extending its operating times, only needing limited additional human resources.

A competitive and dynamic sector, the cosmetics industry is having to reinvent itself and its logistics model in response to today’s unusual situation. The main post-Covid-19 challenges, wide-scale sustainability and “naturalness” – natural ingredients with recyclable, zero-waste packaging – all represent sources of growth for the industry. Goods-to-Person robotization can play an important role in maximizing this opportunity as its flexibility, adaptability, productivity and sustainability are guaranteed!

This article originally appeared here. Republished with permission.

e-commerce
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

Good, Better, Best: Evaluating e-Commerce Analytics Tools

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Today’s business environment is constantly changing. Consumer preferences and demands are shifting—sometimes daily. Even more, during the last year, consumers have become less loyal to brands and even the ways they traditionally shop.
This is not a time to guess what’s right for your business. It’s a time to have access to robust data to monitor the competition, seize opportunities, ensure return on marketing spend—and drive better decision-making. This is the power of business intelligence (BI).According to recent research, though, while businesses are starting to spend big on BI, adoption rates lag below 30%. This means that key decision-makers don’t have the data at their fingertips to make better decisions for their brands—and bottom lines.

The right e-commerce analytics tools give brands access to better insights faster, enabling them to be responsive, edge out the competition, and see where the market is going. In today’s exploding e-commerce market, which is predicted to grow nearly 200% between 2019 and 2022, brands can’t afford to think of BI as a “nice to have.” It’s an essential. But how do you choose which solution to invest in? Here’s our look at some of the e-commerce analytics tools and platforms on the market.

Good: Pacvue

What: an enterprise platform to manage ad campaigns at scale on Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, and other popular retail sites

Pacvue offers targeted solutions built for brands, sellers, and marketing agencies and separate solutions for each retail site. Its software is intended to improve campaign performance with automation, competitive intelligence, and streamlined reporting so that brands can grow their digital sales. It enables visibility into retail and advertising data wherever and whenever users need it.

Why Good? While powerful, Pacvue is only focused on ad campaign performance.

Better: ClearCut

What: a platform for e-commerce and data insights in a changing retail market
The ClearCut Insights Platform gives brands and e-commerce professionals visibility in e-commerce sales data and category trends. Users can benchmark competitors. ClearCut also enables real-time insights into brand or product performance on Amazon, including tracking 1P and 3P daily sales, search rankings, MAP violations and more.
Why Better? ClearCut provides a broader set of e-analytics capabilities for brands than Pacvue, but there are limitations. For instance, insight into sales is available only for Amazon, not other popular digital channels and e-tailers.

Better: Edge by Ascential

What: e-commerce solutions for global brands and retailers
Edge by Ascential is a suite of solutions designed to improve e-commerce insights and performances. There are separate solution sets, including Market Share, Digital Shelf, Price + Promo, Retail Insight, and more. Consider them separate modules that can be purchased and integrated to enable visibility into different aspects of e-commerce. Professional consultative services can also be contracted through the company.

Why Better? While Edge by Ascential provides a deep set of capabilities, unless you purchase all solutions, your broad visibility into your entire e-analytics portfolio is limited.

Better: Profitero

What: e-commerce platform

With daily analytics and benchmark data, Profitero provides digital shelf analytics to detect opportunities to improve sales performance across a wide range of retailer websites. There are sales and market share estimates for products and competitors. In addition, Profitero enables the ability to monitor out-of-stocks, boost search rankings, and optimize campaigns. Users can also access Profitero’s consulting experts.

Why Better? Profitero is certainly a powerful platform, but it’s intended for a broad range of brands, not purpose-built for CPG e-commerce.

Best: Line Item

What: Line Item is a performance analytics platform that gives consumer packaged goods (CPG) and e-commerce marketing managers insights into e-analytics and product attributes to drive revenue and profitability. Created for the CPG industry, it’s backed by a team with more than 30 years of experience in the CPG market. It’s a single tool to boost profitability and drive growth across your e-commerce portfolio with better business intelligence. Its deep insight into product attributes truly sets it apart.
With Line Item, brand and e-commerce professionals can optimize SEO and digital market strategy across all retail sites and platforms. They can see, track, and analyze search results and performance, again across all sites and down to long-tail keywords and particular campaigns. They can understand what’s working for their brands and products, as well as what’s holding them back—from incomplete descriptions or inconsistent images to competitor activity and MAP violations. They can monitor competitor activity, out-of-stocks, price undercuts and delivery time across all sales platforms and digital channels with a single tool. They can also understand product attributes across entire categories.

Why Best? It’s a single platform with comprehensive capabilities purpose-built for CPG e-commerce.

In a competitive and ever-changing CPG e-commerce market, Line Item is your lifeline to more profitable e-commerce.

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retailers
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Reinventing Retail: 6 Ways Retailers Can Drive Customers Back In-Store

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We’re about to experience one of the biggest booms in the history of retail. As the world continues to recover and stabilize, we are entering unimaginable levels of consumer spending. By all predictions, the second half of 2021 will result in a highly competitive race between marketing investment and retail spending that will fuel unprecedented retail expansion.

The last 16 months have led to dramatic changes to the retail landscape and consumer expectations overall. The global pandemic has shuttered many retail operations and crippled the in-store experience. It’s no surprise that customers not stepping foot in-store is a massive and multi-faceted problem for retailers.

No retailer could have predicted the current situation and the preceding events that brought us here, but that’s all about to change. With the global economy on the verge of breakthrough growth, now is the time to reflect and reinvent retail to attract consumers, bring them back in-store, and capitalize on the massive opportunity that lies ahead.

Here are six ways retailers can drive customers back in-store to reinvigorate growth.

 

Start With A Fresh Perspective

Before a wave of customers floods your store, it’s essential to start with a fresh perspective.

What drives your customers? Why would they want to come in and shop? What have they been missing over these last 16 months?

No amount of tactics will help attract customers in-store unless you can provide what they’re looking for—and delight them in the process.

Being fully stocked with the latest SKUs, along with having updated displays and a revitalized interior, are the bare minimum to motivating customers to set foot in-store. In addition, having enough staff available to provide prompt and friendly service is essential.

Give Them A Reason To Visit

Many customers will need an incentive to justify coming back in-store, so give them one. Whether it’s exclusive discounts, priority access to limited-quantity items, a loss leader, or a free bonus for stopping by, make sure that you give customers a reason to visit.

Remember that not all customers want the same thing, so you’ll need to use various incentives to cater to the different types of customers you have. In addition, you can use triggers like new products, inventory restocks, customer birthdays, or other events to solicit customers to stop in. Starbucks does this exceptionally well with their rewards program where they offer double points (called stars) based on the customer’s purchase history and behavior.

Amazon Prime delivers unparalleled (and frankly unbelievable) delivery times on many products, but often even overnight shipping is too long for customers to wait. Retailers can play to their advantage by promoting in-store availability on products that customers are eager to have the same day.

Do everything you can to find creative and personalized ways to motivate customers to come back in-store. There is no silver bullet; you must regularly test new ideas and offers to see how customers respond.

Create A Memorable Customer Experience

When customers return in-store, you must deliver a memorable and favorable experience. This experience could include creative point-of-purchase displays, free samples, or self-checkout. Think about the experience you want customers to have and find ways to surprise and delight them at every touchpoint.

Trader Joes is famous for its exceptional customer experience. There are many stories of employees giving free flowers to customers who are going through challenging times. Similarly, Chick-fil-a is world-renown for its impeccable operational process and unheard-of attitude and kindness.

It’s not enough to deliver the same experience as you did before. Level up your customer experience by defining new procedures that will make your customers leave the store happier than when they entered.

Drive Traffic From Digital To In-Store

To get customers back in-store, you have to reach them where they are, and that means digital. Use your social channels to get the word out and stay current with customers. Similarly, your email marketing and website should both generate awareness and in-store visits.

Paid digital advertising is incredibly effective for reaching the right customers at the right time. Two of the most powerful digital advertising capabilities are targeting specific customer segments and testing offers and incentives to see which work best.

Use your digital marketing wisely and ensure it plays a cohesive role in helping drive awareness and foot traffic to your locations.

Retrain Your Customers

The harsh reality is that consumers are lazy—and they’ve been trained to become even lazier. Delivery and curbside pickup have become mainstream, and many consumers prefer this convenience over setting foot in a store.

You have to retrain customers how to shop with your business, which means cutting back on the convenience factor. To drive in-store visits, you must create an experience where the past of least resistance—and highest value—is through the door.

All of the tactics mentioned above can help create such an experience, but the key takeaway here is to make sure you’re not cannibalizing your efforts. Any curbside and delivery options should include flyers or catalogs that help customers understand what’s available in-store and why it’s worth their time and effort.

Keep Them Coming Back

Getting customers back in-store will require effort—and you want to make sure you maximize your chances of customers coming back and telling others to do the same.

One of the best ways to get customers to return is by giving them a tangible, monetary reward. Kohl’s is famous for “Kohl’s Cash” which is essentially a voucher for a fixed amount of money that you can apply to your next purchase within the specified redemption period. The key detail being the redemption period, which is always a week or two in the future—meaning you have to come back again to use it.

In addition to generating return visits, consider why a customer would spread the word and tell others to stop in. Small gestures go a long way, and anything you can do to help customers become advocates will add up incrementally to drive a sustainable increase in in-store visits.

It’s Time To Reinvent Your Approach To Retail

Now is the time to reinvent your approach to retail. The world has changed, and there is no returning to normalcy. There was no advanced warning of how drastically retail would be affected and the long-lasting impacts the pandemic would bring. Treat this as your forewarning of the opportunity that lies ahead.

Customers are tired of the predictable retail experience, and you must invest in creating an innovative experience that can satisfy customer demands while exceeding their expectations.

The retailers who prepare and invest in the reinvention of retail will thrive and experience unprecedented levels of customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention. Retail will never look the same again—and that’s a good thing for those who are willing to evolve.

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Tim Parkin, President of Parkin Consulting, is a consultant, advisor, and coach to marketing executives globally. He specializes in helping marketing teams optimize performance, accelerate growth, and maximize their results.

By applying more than 20 years of experience merging behavioral psychology and technology seamlessly, Tim has unlocked rapid and dramatic growth for global brands and award-winning agencies alike.

He is a speaker, author, and thought leader who is featured frequently in industry publications. Please visit www.timparkin.com for more information on Tim’s services and his private community of marketing executives.