The Week of November 21st: 10 things eft’s been reading
By on Nov 24, 2016
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This week we read about Black Friday, Amazon, Target’s fulfilment strategy – blah blah blah basically eCommerce. It’s big, as you might have heard, and some very interesting developments happened in the industry segment this week.
1) The Black Friday pilot-gate was resolved in the nick of time. ‘In Time For Black Friday, Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Striking Pilots At Amazon-Backed Cargo Line’ [The Consumerist]
2) In a piece that highlights one of the topics we’ve seen arise significantly throughout the year: multi-level supplier visibility, Samsung and Panasonic face accusations that workers within their supply chains are being taken advantage of. ‘Samsung and Panasonic accused over supply chain labour abuses in Malaysia’. [The Guardian]
3) Target is now shipping its online orders from over 1000 of its stores. This is in tune with the mantra brick and mortar retailers are facing ‘use your stores to your advantage’. We’ll be doing a deep-dive into this exact topic at our D3 Summit in NYC. ‘Target Now Ships Online Orders from More than 1,000 Stores’ [SDC Executive]
4) Best Buy is one of those companies I had ruled-out years ago. It seemed unable to cope with the advent of eCommerce and was struggling to stay relevant. I was wrong. They figured things out, leveraged their store-presence and are very much alive. ‘How to Fight Amazon.com, Best Buy-Style’ [WSJ]
5) eCommerce has had a huge impact on brand experience. Without the control of having your own stores, brands are finding their brand image eroded. Some are starting to fight back. ‘Department Stores’ Big Sales Are Getting Smaller’ [WSJ]
6) Google is able to predict busy times at stores right down to the hour. How? Remember that reminder you got when you first opened Google maps? ‘Google aims to tackle Black Friday crush’ [BBC]
7) Bitcoin and the associated blockchain are trending majorly in the supply chain field at the minute. Here, a blockchain start-up founder explores the abilities of the technology to help protect against geopolitical risk. ‘How bitcoin protects against geopolitical risk’ [TechCrunch]
8) In fact, Walmart has just announced a trial into using blockchain to help track food safety throughout their network. ‘Walmart tries using blockchain to take unsafe food off shelves’ [Engadget]
9) If you read our newsletter, you’ll know that our APAC 3PL Summit and CSCO Forum is upcoming. Here, eft APAC collaborator Charles Brewer discusses Asian last-mile expectations. ‘DHL Ecommerce CEO: What Today’s Southeast Asians Expect From Their Last Mile Experience’ [ecommerce IQ Asia]
10) Autonomous vehicles are coming. It seems any business that identifies itself as being in technology has entered the field. One of the aspects that seems to be flying under the radar has been the securitization of automization. How will you keep your autonomous vehicles safe? ‘Why the Department of Transportation’s self-driving car guidelines aren’t enough’ [TechCrunch]