Three supply chain partnerships from a cozy fall
Autumn is a time of togetherness and warmth, and many retailers are embodying the spirit of the season with collaborative supply chain efforts.
I hail from New England, where the fall is famous for clean, crisp air, explosions of leaf color, and layering up to counteract the cooling temperatures.
Although snow is already on the ground in many places and everyone’s minds are on the winter holidays, technically it is still autumn for another week or so. In celebration of cozy season, let’s look at three recent examples of retail entities integrating supply chain workflows as the air begins to chill:
Winn-Dixie expands in-store Amazon return kiosks
Following a successful pilot of Amazon return kiosks at 20 stores across the greater Jacksonville, Fla. area, Winn-Dixie has begun rolling out the kiosks to 68 additional locations across 23 Florida counties.
The program allows customers to return eligible Amazon items during their store visit with no shipping box, tape or label required. Bags and labels are provided at the kiosks. When starting a return on Amazon, customers can select Winn-Dixie as their preferred drop-off location. Stores offering the service will appear as an option during the return process.
Customers can also confirm availability by using the store locator in the Winn-Dixie rewards app or by visiting the grocer’s e-commerce site. A QR code will appear on the kiosk screen once the return is processed; customers can scan the code with their smartphone camera to instantly activate the coupon in their app for use on their next shopping trip.
Shein offers book assortment via new partnership
Popular low-cost shopping platform Shein, best-known for fast fashion, launched its first-ever book category this fall. Shein is collaborating with Alibris, an online marketplace for independent sellers of used and new books and rare and collectible titles, to open an online Alibris storefront on its U.S. platform.
The Alibris storefront on Shein now offers a curated assortment of more than 100,000 book titles across a variety of popular genres, including romance, fantasy, mystery, non-fiction, and young adult.
The Alibris storefront also offers affordable textbooks for students. Shein says it will continue to grow its selection of Alibris titles in the months ahead.
Grubhub links customers to Instacart grocery deliveries
Two major on-demand delivery providers have teamed up to expand online consumer access to groceries. Grubhub customers can now order from the Instacart network of more than 1,000 national, regional, and local grocery retailers directly through Grubhub's app and website.
The experience is hosted on Grubhub's platform, and orders are fulfilled and delivered by Instacart shoppers. To start shopping, customers tap the grocery icon in the Grubhub app, select a nearby store, add items to their cart, and check out.
Joint orders offer real-time delivery tracking, just as with a traditional Grubhub or Instacart order. The experience rolled out nationwide where Instacart grocery retailers and services are available during October 2025. Customers will also have access to order from select pharmacies through this partnership in the coming months.
