United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS)

FedEx is giving its customers an early holiday gift — while taking a stab at its rival UPS.   The delivery service announced that it will forego additional surcharges on deliveries this holiday season — unless packages require additional handling, are oversized or unauthorized. FedEx made the decision based on the growing volume of large packages moving through the FedEx Ground network during the holidays.   

In ancient Greek mythology, the Amazon were described as a tribe of man-slaying women warriors. Similarly, today’s Amazon is sometimes described as a slayer – of brick-and-mortar stores – blamed for the demise of multiple retailers. So, it’s interesting that the company has offered to pay $13.7 billion for Whole Foods Market and its brick-and-mortar footprint of more than 460 stores.    

For the first time ever, UPS is going to add a surcharge for orders delivered to homes during peak holiday times.    The surcharges, which apply only to residential deliveries, could boost the buy-online-pickup-in-stores (BOPIS) strategy deployed by many store-based retailers.  The move comes as the shipping giant look to combat its escalating costs, which include increased investments in hiring, in the wake of the shipping boom caused by rising online package volumes.    

More U.S. online shoppers are buying items from international retailers. To compete against these lower prices, U.S brands to step up personalization efforts.  

A new partnership is helping Sur La Table take the term “farm to table” to a new level.   Sur La Table is the go-to source for all things culinary — from cooking tools and kitchen gadgets to tableware. All it was missing was a way to be at their shoppers’ beck and call — and at a moment’s notice — as they prepared a stellar meal.  

UPS is taking steps to improve order accuracy.   A new program called Preload Smart Scan notifies workers if they have placed an item in the wrong delivery vehicle. Historically, these snafus forced drivers to travel miles out of their way to correct the mistakes.  

The retail industry is going through an innovation revolution, driven by game-changing technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and advanced analytics.