Modern Shipper

Tiny electric delivery vans occupy former home of hulking Hummer H2

The tale of Electric Last Mile Systems (ELMS) brims with irony. 

The startup’s Class 1 battery-powered delivery vans will be assembled in the plant where the hulking Hummer H2 SUV came off the line from 2003 to 2009.

Jim Taylor, the same executive who ran Hummer at General Motors (NYSE: GM), led talks to sell the brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery as GM teetered on the edge of an eventual bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. The deal fell apart in February 2010 and GM mothballed...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/tiny-electric-delivery-vans-occupy-former-home-of-hulking-hummer-h2

Online retailers pay almost double in logistics costs

This is an excerpt from Thursday’s Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter.

(Chart: Gartner)

Retailers with more than 50% of revenue from the online channel have logistics costs as a percentage of sales that are almost double those of their store-focused counterparts, according to Gartner. 

2020 was a year spent primarily expanding online fulfillment capabilities, but now retail supply chain leaders are now looking for opportunities to control, contain and, where possible, reduce their...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/online-retailers-pay-almost-double-in-logistics-costs

Retailers turned to scanning technology to meet ecommerce explosion

Shipt worker fulfills an online order

As retailers faced the unprecedented challenges of 2020, some were able to quickly pivot from brick-and-mortar operations to e-commerce thanks to the use of technology that in some cases, store associates already used.

The ubiquitous smartphone proved to be a business-saving device for some, allowing their operations to quickly and accurately fulfill e-commerce and in-store pickup orders.

“It was really around scaling up in-store picking where suddenly order volumes doubled, tripled and basket...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/retailers-turned-to-scanning-technology-to-meet-the-ecommerce-explosion

Global e-commerce sales jump 24% in December

ecommerce sales jump in December

More global consumers shopped online this holiday season than ever before. According to data collected by payments firm ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIQ), e-commerce transactions jumped 24% in December 2020 compared to 2019.

Merchants that offered customers the option to buy online and pick up in store (BOPIS) prior to the pandemic particularly benefited, with a 70% increase in volume and 58% increase in value compared to 2019.

“In 2020, we saw the pandemic drive the highest number of merchants...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/global-e-commerce-sales-jump-24-in-december

Walmart to test temperature-controlled box for grocery home delivery

Walmart to test HomeValet grocery delivery box

According to Karen Bomber, Honeywell’s head of retail insights, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders across the country caused a spike in online grocery ordering in 2020. Bomber, speaking during the National Retail Federation’s Chapter One conference on Tuesday, said online grocery orders jumped from 4% of sales in 2019 to 30% in 2020.

It is a trend she doesn’t see diminishing moving forward, and while many of those orders are in-store pickups, a good portion remains home...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/walmart-to-test-temperature-controlled-box-for-grocery-home-delivery

Creating the digital glue that connects in-store, online experiences

supply chain changes due to covid

In 2019, 4% of grocery sales were online. In 2020, that spiked to 30%, according to Karen Bomber, Honeywell’s head of retail insights. COVID changed that and so much more for the retail supply chain in 2020, with some of the changes likely becoming permanent, Bomber and Miya Knights, head of industry insight atSaaS technology company Eagle Eye, told the audience during a virtual session Tuesday as part of the National Retail Federation’s Chapter One conference.

Noting that she was one of those...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/creating-the-digital-glue-that-connects-in-store-online-experiences

Amware sees opportunity in Moulton Logistics acquisition

As Americans hunkered down at home and repeatedly hit the “buy” button on their computers and phones, the need for warehouse space heated up. Online buying has continued into 2021 and looks to no longer be a gradual upward trend that was altering retail but rather a rocket ship that has quickly and dramatically changed shopping forever.

You can thank COVID-19 for that.

“The difference between 2021 and 2020 is the surprise factor,” Harry Drajpuch, CEO of Amware Fulfillment, told FreightWaves. “On...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/amware-sees-opportunity-in-moulton-logistics-acquisition

GM reveals electric delivery van with connected pallets

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) flung itself into the battery-electric commercial delivery and freight-tech businesses Tuesday, revealing an electric-powered cargo van and a connected pallet system for getting goods from the vehicle to customers’ doorsteps.

The automaker had hinted it was working on a battery-powered electric van. CEO Mary Barra announced the creation of a startup, BrightDrop, during a digital keynote address for CES 2021. BrightDrop joins GM Defense and two recent OnStar spinoffs...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/gm-reveals-electric-delivery-van-with-connected-pallets

French company Scallog hopes the time is right for its ‘goods-to-person’ robotics

The sudden spike in e-commerce sales, up over 32% in 2020 according to eMarketer, has pressured warehouse and fulfillment operations to fill orders – one item at a time. Add in a shortage of warehouse capacity and workers and the crunch is on to create more efficiency and to do so in a hurry.

Logistics real estate trust Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) said the logistics real estate sector continues to face issues in finding skilled labor and desirable locations for new facilities. In a series of...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/french-company-scallog-hopes-the-time-is-right-for-its-goods-to-person-robotics

Brexit forcing grocers to stock enemy product

This is an excerpt from Monday’s Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter.

The UK grocery supermarket sector was once highly oligopolistic, but in recent years, European brands have expanded in the UK and have created a much fiercer competitive landscape. There are 4 primary British supermarket chains dubbed ‘The Big Four’: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and Morrison’s. The new challengers include Aldi and Lidl of Germany, and SPAR of the Netherlands. 

The long and messy trade disputes stemming...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/brexit-forcing-grocers-to-stock-enemy-product

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