By: Jim Pettinger, President of UCanTrade, Inc. According to an article in USA Today, UPS will be hiring an additional 95,000 seasonal workers this holiday shopping season, and FedEx will add 50,000. In addition, major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Macy’s will also be hiring in the tens of thousands. Not to mention Amazon. […]
Could your company hire 95,000 part time workers within 90 days? by Jim Pettinger, President of UCanTrade, Inc. According to an article in USA Today, UPS will be hiring an additional 95,000 seasonal workers this holiday shopping season, and FedEx will add 50,000. In addition, major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Macy’s will also […]
Are you ready for the 2017 peak holiday selling season? The bad news is that it has already started. The good news is that it now lasts until February. Whether you are selling direct to consumers, or supplying retailers or wholesalers, your plans should really be already in place. The U.S. and Canadian economies are […]
There’s little doubt digital online buying – a.k.a. the ‘Amazon Effect’, is impacting traditional retailers, especially since Walmart has stepped up to the plate to compete with Amazon in this competitive e-commerce space. While consumers enjoy the benefits of their e-commerce ‘warfare’, another dynamic to the ‘Amazon Effect’ being brought into the forefront is truck […]
Evolving beyond ‘multi-channel retailing’, omnichannel is all about creating ‘a seamless consumer experience’ and is being called ‘the future of retail’. A recent survey from the Harvard Business Review states omnichannel consumers are “shoppers who engage with retailers across multiple touchpoints” adding “[they] are driving boosts in conversion rates both online and offline” making them one […]
UPS reports high volumes of ‘holiday returns’ following 2016’s ‘unprecedented volume of online sales’. E-Commerce returns present new challenges for sellers but in particular for Canadian e-commerce companies selling to U.S. consumers. Even for U.S. e-commerce retailers it’s a struggle to find balance between often unanticipated reverse logistics costs and satisfying their customers’ high expectations […]
By: Jim Pettinger, President of UCanTrade, Inc. Third-party fulfillment warehouses have existed for many years, originally developing to handle “mail order” from various catalog companies, large and small. However, with the recent explosion of e-commerce and other internet sales, it’s become a whole new ball game. A major trend is the differentiation between low-cost, high-volume […]
By: Jim Pettinger, President of UCanTrade, Inc. According to a recent article in Inbound Logistics magazine, “Some 80 percent of all U.S. commerce is carried on pallets, making them an indispensable part of nearly every supply chain.” They estimate there are over 2 billion pallets circulating around the United States of all sizes and makeup. […]
So much more than business analysis or software upgrades, optimizing your business means taking a global approach to reviewing the processes required to satisfy your customers’ needs. By definition, to optimize, is to make the best or most effective use of (a situation, opportunity, or resource). “It is not something only for the big companies,” […]
By: Jim Pettinger, President of UCanTrade, Inc. In recent years, most “big box” retailers have followed Walmart’s lead by introducing “Vendor Compliance” programs. While understandable due to the huge volume of goods being received, the practice has also come under criticism for becoming a “revenue stream” rather than a reasonable business practice. Typical reasons for […]