The festive period is in full swing and for many retailers it is the most lucrative time of year. With products flying off shelves thick and fast, it can be difficult to maintain accurate inventory, but failure to do so can prove extremely costly, writes Rob Shaw, SVP and MD EMEA at Fluent Commerce. Rob Shaw, SVP and MD EMEA at Fluent Commerce In today’s digital economy, trust plays a pivotal role in customer loyalty and brand reputation. With so many options at their fingertips, even one poor experience with a company can lead to customers taking their business elsewhere, and nothing is more ..read more

Each year, DeliveryX starts to look ahead to the coming new year in a series of predictions. Simon Jones, sales executive at Exotec has outlined his warehouse automation trends for 2024. Simon Jones, sales executive Exotec The warehouse automation market is expected to . As we look ahead to 2024, there are a number of trends that will not only drive this growth, but also determine the direction in which the sector is evolving. Automation and 3PLs Third-party logistic companies (3PLs) play a major role in the UK logistics sector; particularly in ecommerce fulfilment and retail replenishment. In ..read more

The newly published DeliveryX Packaging 2023 report has highlighted that packaging has become the star of ecommerce purchases in online unboxing content. Unboxing is a growing trend which sees consumers record and publish the moment of taking new purchases from packaging. The majority of these videos are posted on Youtube, with social media platforms increasingly the home for such reveals.  One of the first examples of an unboxing video dates back to 2003, it showed a gamer from the US unwrapping a PlayStation 3 delivered from Japan. At the time, this video was of keen interest to other g ..read more

The fate of the traditional high street remains uncertain in hardened economic times, with consumer shopping habits continuing to turn to ecommerce as a means of purchasing both necessary and luxury items. As shopping habits evolve, so do the channels that customers return to time and time again for their product of choice. In a year that saw social commerce boom, and channels like Instagram and TikTok taking centre stage in how customers choose to shop, consumerism through ecommerce has developed even further and looks set to outstrip the high street in the year ahead.  Ecommerce by its ..read more

More than 2,000 Royal Mail colleagues from office-based roles will support postmen and women on their rounds during December, as the company works to meet Christmas demand. This week is predicted to be the busiest of the year for Royal Mail, with around double the amount of both mail and parcels expected to go through the network. Throughout the festive shopping period, from the Black Friday weekend to the final week of December, employees usually based in offices around the country will spend several days each supporting postmen and women with deliveries to help ensure the increased number of ..read more

Trade union Unite has announced a number of industrial actions that could hit stock levels and deliveries to customers over the festive period, with strikes by a fleet of DS Smith LGV drivers and Wincanton Rochdale distribution drivers planned for December. There could be nationwide shortages of chilled foods at Asda stores as around 80 HGV drivers, employed by Wincanton on the Asda contract, walk out over the Christmas period over pay. Unite said the drivers are angry at being paid £1.24 an hour less than their counterparts doing the exact same role for Asda at the Lutterworth distribution ce ..read more

Norfolk-based department store Jarrolds has acquired next-day delivery courier RDM Distribution, its first investment in the logistics sector which will allow its customers to select next day delivery from anywhere in the country. RDM Distribution Limited is a family-run business which fulfils deliveries across the UK and beyond. The deal comes following the retirement of RDM’s directors. Furthermore, a planning application is also underway to redevelop the company’s Norwich warehouse. The firm said this would allow it to offer a warehousing and fulfilment service to their local suppliers and ..read more

The success ratio for first delivery attempts in Switzerland is as high as 99.7% despite its national postal service experiencing challenging conditions in 2023, according to the RetailX Switzerland Ecommerce Country Report 2023. The research found economic challenges this year has resulted in Swiss Post delivering fewer parcels than before, but has still focused on maximum efficiency. At the end of January, Swiss Post announced that it had sorted or delivered a total of 194 million parcels in 2022. Despite the colossal figure, this was actually 4% less than in the previous year, 2021, which h ..read more

Now that the Christmas shopping season is in full swing, retailers are experiencing their busiest time of the year. With inflation expected to continue to affect holiday spending, and 24% of businesses reporting inflation as their second biggest worry, logistics companies don’t expect a significant surge in demand during the peak season. While overall supply chain disruptions are stabilising, another threat to the supply chain is becoming a growing concern – labour disruptions, writes Bindiya Vakil, CEO, Resilinc. Bindiya Vakil, CEO, Resilinc Holiday season forecasts are not making retailers m ..read more

Amancio Ortega, Spanish billionaire and founder of Zara, has acquired a distribution centre mainly used by Amazon in Dublin for €225mn (£192mn), as his investment firm Pontegadea makes its first move into the logistics sector. According to The Irish Times, Pontegadea bought the 1.2 million square foot industrial and logistics property in Dublin’s Baldonnell Business Park from property developer Mountpark. Around 630,000 square feet of the site is occupied by Amazon. The Spanish investment firm had previously purchased a luxury residential building in Dublin with 120 apartments for rent for aro ..read more