Top 4 Canadian Business Logistics Challenges Explained
Countries come in all shapes and sizes, but there’s no country quite like Canada. Canadians are used to dealing with long drives and harsh weather, but when it comes to the logistics operations of a business, things get significantly more complex than what is experienced in many other countries. Here, we will explore the top […]
Don’t Fear Returns – Embrace Them!
In a perfect world, businesses would sell products and customers would go home happy and satisfied each and every time. However, we all know that the reality of retail is quite different. There are dozens of reasons why customers either choose to, or are required to, return a product. Perhaps it’s a piece of apparel […]
Future of Retail: The Apocalypse Has Been Cancelled
It seems like the persistent narrative amongst the media across North America surrounding the retail industry has been nothing but doom and gloom lately. Many of them have pulled out all the stops on this viewpoint, even issuing the hyperbole that a retail apocalypse is inevitable. One quick search on Google tells you “the retail […]
The Demands of Supply: How Retailers Can Seize New Opportunities
It’s said that companies don’t compete; supply chains do. How should this vital cog function in retail operations? To answer that critical question, Canadian Retailer spoke with two of the most astute observers serving the Canadian supply chain industry: Roger Sharpe and Rick Cleveland. Sharpe is a Director of Business Development, Omni-Channel Retail at […]
Dedicated vs. Shared Operations for Retail
Canadian retail companies depend on their warehousing and distribution capabilities to effectively meet the needs of their business operations, and when those capabilities become stretched too thin, it can have a significant impact to the entire organization. When evaluating options for improving the capacity and effectiveness of warehousing and distribution, it’s essential to understand the […]
Fast Shipping vs. Free Shipping
Online shoppers are faced with a set of choices to make each time they make a purchase, but there’s one big dilemma that has always been a source of frustration for customers and retailers alike since the birth of e-commerce. That dilemma is the question of ‘fast shipping’ or ‘cheap shipping’. Often, this question can […]
Critical Insights on Holiday Season Logistics Trends
The last few months of the year are a critical time for retailers. Often, this is the time period that defines the annual success of a business, for better or for worse. For companies who depend on strong Q4 results, it is essential to take every opportunity to maximize all aspects of their business in […]
Benefits of Outsourced Reverse Logistics and Repair Services
We’d like to think that once we ship and deliver a product to a customer, that product functions perfectly every time and never has an issue for the rest of its operational life. This unfortunately just isn’t the case 100% of the time. It’s a reality that there will inevitably be some products that malfunction, […]
Retail Ecommerce Drop Shipping Explained
There are many different methods that companies can choose from when it comes to order fulfillment. Sometimes businesses will opt to perform all the tasks associated with it themselves, including hiring and training personnel, investing in warehouse space, purchasing capital equipment, and other required elements. While this approach can give a company ultimate control over […]
SCI’s 2017 Vancouver Omni-Channel Retail Leadership Summit
On October 5th, 2017 SCI held their second Omni-Channel Retail Leadership Summit in Vancouver featuring speakers and attendees from influential organizations in the Canadian retail environment. To view content from the first Summit in Toronto, click here. How Canadian consumers are driving e-commerce? What consumers expect from retailers? What role returns will play this holiday […]
“Growing Pains”: Seasonal Order Fulfillment and Supply Chain Enhancement Strategies
Holiday and seasonal shopping are the busiest and most stressful times for retailers. With higher demand for products in stores and increased orders online, retailers are challenged to supply enormous volumes of products in just that short peak period. What’s keeping retailers up at night during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Christmas? They worry about […]
Retail Supply Chain Planning – Holiday Peak Periods
For Canadian retailers, projecting resources needed to fulfill sales demands throughout most of the year is typically straight forward. However, when it comes to projecting and preparing for seasonal shopping peaks it can be the most stressful time of the year. During Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas & New Year periods retailers see huge increases […]
