Amazon is seeking to transform the competitive landscape in logistics
As early as 2014, we announced that Amazon would become a competitor to traditional delivery companies such as DHL and FedEx. The last five years have proven us right. After launching its network of automatic lockers, Amazon is putting additional pressure on its suppliers by encouraging its employees to become competitors of DHL, FedEx and other UPS through its “Delivery Service Partner” program. Amazon offers a bonus of €10,000 to its employees, three months’ salary and...
Zalando free-returns policy drives customer loyalty up
Online retailer Zalando has announced revenues of €4.5b in 2017, up 23% from the year before. Despite a slight decrease of its Ebit (from 5.9% to 4.7%-4.9%), profits before taxes will be over €200m. This is a very solid result for a company that needed huge economies of scale to be profitable. The logistics and supply-chain costs are indeed a major cost center and the free-returns no-hassle policy of Zalando cost them huge amounts of money...
Walmart wants to deliver you IN your home
It should be always easier for people to order online, and in particular the delivery should be a smooth experience. Market researches show that delivery is actually a real pain point and the source of many complaints (delivery times longer than expected, nobody at home to take delivery of the parcel, …) In a attempt to do a thorough market research back in 2014-2015, we reported the huge progresses made by the logistics sector and the...
Will Amazon revolutionize supply-chain management?
Two years ago we were analyzing on this blog the rise of a new logistics giant : Amazon. Amazon was successfully testing new delivery experiences with DHL and Audi. We also predicted Amazon was ready to compete directly with the DHL, Fedex and UPS of this world. The announcement made by Amazon to open parcel locker network across Europe, is a logical first step before entering the battle. As you may remember from our market research...
Customers are the last hurdle to remove for a smoother supply-chain
The Nespresso Prodigio case shows that companies are trying to remove the last uncertainty factor to maximize loyalty. This factor is the customer himself. It’s not a bad idea indeed. Rather than building complex algorithms to predict customers’ behaviors, why not just remove the human factor from the equation ? If the proposed added value is sufficient it may well work. Prodigio’s value proposition : enough to automate customer’s decision process? That’s what Nespresso probably thought...
