Logistics

eBay Enterprise, an eBay company and leading global provider of omnichannel solutions, has unveiled a ship-from-store SaaS initiative that retailers can deploy within 99 days to most effectively leverage their physical store inventories while gaining advantages in margin and shipping cost.

Amazon announced a record-setting year for Marketplace Sellers, which sold more than a billion units worldwide, cumulatively worth tens of billions of dollars, in 2013.

You’ve got to hand it to Amazon.com. While consistently turning a profit has eluded Amazon for the past 18 years, the company has consistently taken a lead in disrupting retail. Whether it’s inventing e-commerce as a mainstream B2C transactional channel, taking a leading role in hosted cloud services with Amazon Web Services or helping to usher in the tablet era with Kindle e-readers, Amazon.com has never been afraid to do things in a way that alters how retail business is conducted.

With a new year come new challenges and opportunities. As consumer patterns continue to evolve, so must retailers and their supply chain operations, influenced by technological advancements and other external factors. Coming off a modestly successful holiday shopping season, retailers are geared up for 2014 and prepared to address what promise to be the top five challenges of 2014.

Omnichannel

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. -- Stewart’s Shops, a chain of 300 convenience stores offering gasoline and fresh and local dairy products and ice cream, has deployed Paragon Software’s Single Depot solution to automate the planning of daily and seasonal deliveries. Paragon’s software automates the manual process of planning and scheduling deliveries to the retail outlets, lowering mileage, reducing fuel usage, and improving truckload efficiencies.

Japan’s biggest e-commerce player uses third-party marketplace model to expand

Most U.S. consumers, and many retailers for that matter, have probably never heard of Rakuten. But if Japan’s largest e-commerce marketplace has its way, that will soon change: The company has set its sights on becoming a household name in the United States. An even loftier goal: outpacing e-commerce giant Amazon.com.

As the clicks and bricks went head-to-head in retail’s all-important holiday season, the “clicks” had already won the 2013 race to build new warehouse and distribution facilities. Winning the overall retail race is quickly becoming about being first from dock to doorstep and satiating customer’s hunger for insta-delivery. This means having the right infrastructure, particularly supporting facilities, in place.

Cincinnati -- Automated material handling solutions provider Intelligrated has hired Chris Lingamfelter as VP, integrated system sales and strategy.