With a record-low unemployment rate of 3.8% and e-commerce sales expected to top $4 trillion by 2021 brands and 3PLs (third-party logistics providers) are “flanked on both sides”. More consumers are purchasing products with fewer workers to fulfill those orders.

Retailers live in a world of high demands and customer expectations. In order for brands to stay relevant in the market place, they need to constantly evolve and adapt to the challenges they face. With the e-commerce boom and rise of the “digital generation”, 2019 has its own set of unique challenges. Here are the top challenges retailers face in 2019.   

Running a business can feel like far more than a full-time job. Not only do you have to provide your customers with appealing and useful products, but you also must purchase, market, and deliver them, all while providing excellent customer service, performing daily operations, and working to grow your business.

The 2018 holiday season was one for the record books. According to Mastercard Spending Pulse, brick-and-mortar spending increased 5% over 2017 reaching $850 billion in sales. Online shopping grew 19.1 percent over 2017 with Adobe Analytics reporting that US shoppers spent a whopping $110.5 billion between November 1 and December 19.

The 2018 holiday ecommerce peak is expected to be a big one. Holiday ecommerce sales this year (in November and December) are expected to rise 14.8% over last year to reach $124.1 billion, according to a forecast from Adobe. Nearly one dollar of every six spent on retail purchases will take place online this year.

The demand for lightning-quick fulfillment, coupled with a myriad of small-order additions, has led to a complex operating environment. Shipping issues are the second-most widely reported reason for consumer dissatisfaction when shopping online—caused primarily by lost packages and/or late deliveries.

Any one of the various moving supply chain parts can be responsible for shipping delays. For instance, inventory discrepancies at warehouses might be the reason for a slow shipment. If a consumer places an online order for an item that actually isn't in stock (despite what the website says), the warehouse cannot fulfill the order in a timely manner.

By following a few basic warehouse inventory management best practices, you can streamline your order fulfillment process to successfully meet your key performance indicators (KPIs).

Distribution center managers often feel like they're caught between two inevitable forces: rising demand for fast, accurate order fulfillment, and a shrinking labor pool that makes it harder to find employees to do the work.

As any distribution center manager can attest, finding, keeping, and getting the most from your workers can be a serious challenge. Here are four labor management strategies to help you improve your labor costs.

Better supervision, streamlined workflows, and reduced costs are just a few of the benefits of yard management systems.

It’s no surprise that technology far surpasses the effectiveness of clipboards and paper logbooks when it comes to running a yard. But just how necessary are yard management systems (YMS) to an efficient supply chain in today’s market?

We’ve all been there. We’re down to the last roll of toilet paper or only have one remaining laundry detergent pod left. That’s why fulfilling those customer orders as fast as possible is more important than ever. In the FMCG world, orders placed today were actually needed yesterday. Here are six ways your warehousing solution can focus on getting those FMGCs to move even faster.

In the first half of 2018, a convergence of forces is disrupting the complex ecosystem of manufacturers, carriers, and third-party logistics (3PL) partners that comprise the U.S. shipping and logistics industry:

1. Freight volumes are expanding across the board due to the strong U.S. economy.
2. A nationwide driver shortage leaves fewer drivers on the road overall.
3. Electronic logging device (ELD) policies implemented in late 2017 mean drivers are on the roads less hours than they used to be.

As a result, there’s more freight to ship and fewer people — operating under more strictly regulated hours — to move it where it needs to go.