OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Contact-free payment speeds up checkout at discount grocer
Aldi is making it easier for customers to pay for purchases. The fast-growing deep-discount grocer now accepts all forms of contactless payment, including Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Android Pay. All options are available across Aldi’s nearly 1,700 stores nationwide. Shoppers can pay for their groceries by tapping their contactless-enabled bank card, smartphone or other wearable device on a dedicated payment terminal.
Amazon to embark on Big Apple hiring spree
Amazon is about to put down some new roots in New York City — and is hunting for new employees to support the operation.

FedEx to hike shipping rates by almost 5%

FedEx will have new shipping rates starting January 1, 2018. All subsidiaries, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight, will increase their shipping fees by an average of 4.9%. The company is also imparting additional surcharges across other services. For example, FedEx Express shipping rates will spike by an average of 4.9% for U.S. domestic, U.S. export and U.S. import services. FedEx One Rate pricing will increase by an average of 3.5%.
Discount giant will rely on its own workforce for holiday rush

Walmart is bucking the holiday hiring trend again this year. Unlike other competitors that are hiring thousands of temporary workers to service shoppers during the holiday season, the discount giant plans to offer extra hours to its current associates. These shifts will staff traditional roles like cashier and stocker, and newly created technology-empowered positions, such as personal shoppers and Pickup associates, according to Walmart.
UPS kicks off holiday hiring spree

UPS is ramping up its holiday workforce. The company plans to hire approximately 95,000 seasonal employees to support an anticipated increase in package shipments during the 2017 holiday shopping season. UPS expects increased delivery volume to span between early November and January 2018. This marks the fourth straight year that UPS is hiring this number of employees for the holiday season, according to Reuters.
Walmart eliminating overnight stocking in Neighborhood Market Stores

Walmart is changing the way it stocks merchandise in its small-format Neighborhood Market Stores. In a blog on its website, the discounter announced that in more than 430 of its Neighborhood Market stores that are already closed overnight, it is shifting overnight stocking hours to the daytime and using technology to make the inventory management process easier. The retailer said it initially piloted day-stocking in 50 stores in and around the Tampa and Dallas areas with "very encouraging" results.
Fast-growing menswear retailer ready for holiday season with new infrastructure

As it expands online and opens stores offline, Untuckit is looking forward to its biggest holiday shopping season to date.
Report: Home goods retailer to accept digital wallet, Venmo

A new payment option will help Williams-Sonoma tap a new customer segment. The home goods retailer will soon accept the peer-to-peer money-transferring service Venmo for bridal registry purchases. The digital wallet lets users make digital payments — or split payments with other users, according to ReCode.
Online giant expands fulfillment operations in two states

Amazon continues to bolster its distribution fleet. The online giant will be adding a new 1 million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in Monroe, Ohio — its fourth warehouse in The Buckeye State. Amazon will hire 1,000 associates to manage the picking, packing and shipping larger customer items, such as sports equipment, gardening tools, and pet food. Amazon already operates fulfillment centers in the cities of Etna and Obetz, and is preparing for the opening of a new facility in North Randall.
Study: Retailers triple same-day delivery offerings

Eager to get merchandise into shoppers’ hands the same day they place an order, 65% of retailers will offer same-day delivery within two years. This was according to the “2017 Digital Commerce Benchmark Survey,” from Boston Retail Partners (BRP).