January 3, 2020
Walmart To Leverage Supercenters in Distribution Strategy
Walmart’s new distribution strategy, according to CEO Doug McMillon, is to leverage more of its own supercenters rather than e-commerce facilities. The big-box retailer plans to sell added warehouse and shipping capacity to third-party sellers on Walmart.com and have online orders fulfilled by traditional stores.
E-commerce Causes Surge in Handling Equipment Sales
The breakneck growth of e-commerce over the past decade has dramatically increased the sale of associated material handling equipment, because of the need for additional warehouses and fulfillment facilities. And the distribution material handling equipment market is expected to keep growing, forecasted to expand 5.2% through 2023 to $19.7 billion.
Small Parcel Carriers Lower Heavy-Weight Fee Threshold
UPS and FedEx are lowering their heavy-weight fee threshold from 70 pounds to 50, beginning December 29th for UPS and January 6th for FedEx. A $24 fee will be charged for each package over 50 pounds, which is expected to hit millions of consumers and cause online retailers to split up more orders.