Ship to shore… we’re not sure what Amazon is up to anymore! On top of a tonne of speculation around the retailer’s involvement with aircraft, news leaked out last week that Amazon is now a registered sea container business too. There’s a story here from our colleagues on Tamebay with more details on that. A life on the ocean wave..? Who knows.
There’s also much beating on the jungle drums about a possible takeover of Ocado by Amazon.
Last week, on eDelivery, we published the first half of a two-part feature considering Amazon’s airborne ambitions. This week, we have the second part, in which we look at how Amazon compares to the likes of FedEx and UPS. There are lots of reasons why the cost and effort of becoming a carrier is likely to be unappealing to Amazon, but there are also lots of ways in which such a move makes sense.
Hand on heart, we’re unmoved by some of the wilder speculations surrounding this story. But it’s certainly one to watch.
Another retailer (still) caught in the glare of speculation is Argos. We’ve written a lot about Argos in the last few months; despite some of its organisational otherness – and it’s many detractors – we think Argos is a fascinating business. It’s delivery model surpasses the reach of any other similar sized UK retailer, and according to the latest set of sales figures from its owner (Home Retail Group) its recently-launched FastTrack service has been popular. Despite that though, sales at Argos slipped, and with the acquisition of stablemate Homebase by Aussie DIY chain Wesfarmers, there are more questions than answers where Argos is concerned.
Elsewhere on eDelivery, we have a feature from the most recent print edition of our magazine, written by our telematics editor Sharon Clancy. Called Intelligent Deliveries, it looks at the important, and growing, role of mobile data in the logistics world. This is then demonstrated by a case study we have from food distributor Reynolds, which is heavily reliant on wireless technology in its warehouse operations.
We also have a guest-authored article on the need for innovative, flexible delivery services, which will become increasingly important as customers demand more than speed or time-slot choice.
And finally, we are delighted to formally announce the return of eDelivery Expo (EDX16) which takes place on 27 & 28 April at the NEC in Birmingham, once again co-located with InternetRetailing Expo (IRX).
If you have an opinion to share or would like to write a guest article for eDelivery, you can email me direct via this link; not everything is going to get an instant thumbs-up I’m afraid but we’ve had several very interesting articles develop from the ashes of ideas that weren’t quite right at first.
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