Thought Leadership: E-commerce & Returns

Reverse Logistics Is Ready For Greener Returns

Full story published in Reverse Logistics Association   Reverse logistics is transitioning from a traditional linear method to a more sustainable circular process. Changes in shopper behaviors, rising returns, landfill capacity, escalating emissions, emerging supply chain visibility technologies — they’re all contributing to a better understanding of how consumption and the extended value chain impact our planet.

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INFLATION IS THE NEWEST NORMAL. HOW SHOPPERS ARE ADAPTING

Record-high inflation continues to be a concern for shoppers, with the latest CPI reporting 8.3 percent in April — which is only a slight decrease from March’s 8.5 percent, and still indicative of significant price increases compared to last year. Moreover, if you dig even deeper into the CPI and look at the food-at-home category alone, you’ll find that it’s even higher at 10.8 percent.

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Optimize Your Post-Purchase Experience: Inmar Intelligence forms Joint Venture with UK-based Doddle

Consumers are buying more online than ever before, but this rapid increase in online sales is creating new challenges for merchants, carriers, and shoppers — particularly in product returns. According to the National Retail Federation, the growth of returned goods from online purchases outpaced the growth of online sales by nearly 5x.

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Medical Recalls: Not “If” but “When”

*/ /*-->*/ Whether it’s for devices, supplies, or pharmaceuticals, eventually your hospital system will be impacted by a recall. The best way to prepare is to make certain your health system knows as much about those events as possible. And immediately. Any delay could lead to patient or staff injury. Or worse.

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Everything You Need To Know About The Phygital Shopping Revolution

Consumers are a scrappy, resilient bunch. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged worldwide, shoppers learned to make the best of a difficult situation by shifting their shopping experiences to digital channels. This migration resulted in almost immediate developments in tech like Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store (BOPIS), curbside pickup, grocery delivery, and various other blended conveniences — all of which work to integrate digital convenience into the physical shopping experience. Are marketers meeting shoppers’ phygital needs? Yes and no. 

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RETURN TO SPLENDOR: HOW DATA-DRIVEN RETURN STRATEGIES INCREASE PROFITS AND IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Original published in Retail Dive: https://www.retaildive.com/spons/return-to-splendor/609800/   Peak selling season is right around the corner, and supply chains across the globe continue to face unprecedented challenges — material shortages, insufficient labor pools, and transportation inconsistencies, just to name a few. While demand for goods may be high, limited supply could push prices up and total sales volume down. As a result, retailers need to ensure they protect margins on every order. 

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Why a Good Return Experience is High Priority for Online Shoppers

The growth of returns from online purchases is outpacing the growth of online sales by nearly 5 times. To better understand the dynamics of online sales and returns, Inmar Intelligence surveyed 1,000 adult shoppers that had returned at least one online purchase within the past three months.

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What does the future hold for e-commerce? In a word, convergence.

Thanks in large part to the shifting consumer habits that arose in lockstep with COVID-19, by next year more than half (51.3%) of the U.S. population will be digital grocery buyers. However, that doesn’t mean these shoppers won’t be visiting grocery stores (unless the Delta variant continues to grow). Instead, they’ll simply add online grocery shopping to their regular routines.

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Is Online Grocery Shopping Here To Stay? Yes, According To Our Latest Survey Results, Featured In Progressive Grocer

The numbers don’t lie. Our latest research shows that consumers plan to continue online grocery shopping, even as vaccination numbers rise and people return to in-person shopping.  In a recent article, Online Grocery Shopping Is a Permanent Part of the Mix: Survey, Progressive Grocer took the opportunity to highlight some of the survey’s results.

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