The Tmall Supermarket Grows %400, Delivers Products & Groceries Same-Day

Online retail has really become a new launching pad for many retailers that are having to make their business go to the next level. It’s a way to get your company from making small amounts of revenue due to low market coverage, to exploding within your industry, all because you have online exposure. It also allows companies to perform a variety of logistical approaches, especially when it’s necessary to work with other retailers and consolidate product orders. This is exactly what is happening for China-based retailer Alibaba, which has created a different approach to generate the kind of sales its’ looking for.

Internet Retailer recently reported how Alibaba is using e-commerce to deliver to shoppers all the goods they need from a number of sellers, all at one time. Alibaba Group Holdings hosts 70,000 online storefronts within their Tmall Supermarket or chaoshi.tmall.com. The online retail site generated $49 billion in sales in 2013. The Tmall has grown exponentially since its’ 2012 rollout. 2013 was a breakout year, growing at 400% and Alibaba expects 2014 to be the same.

The sales have definitely come a long way. A Tmall spokesman stated in the article, “the reason is that consumers like to purchase from different grocery stores. We can’t aggregate the orders at that time so that the shipping costs turn out to be too expensive for consumers who place multiple orders”. This was before 2012, when the company had not tried their new approach. Chinese shoppers have really bought into the Tmall Supermarket and the site retailers have as well.

These storefronts are operated by a variety of retailers, Chinese and foreign. What was discovered was that shoppers would buy their general products from different sellers, however, they did not do the same with their grocery purchases. For example, they would buy their milk from one online storefront, but their rice from another. Alibaba realized that it needed a different online approach to make it work. The retailer decided to create a Tmall Supermarket warehouse, in which all of the storefront sellers would ship their groceries to their location. From there, Alibaba would have the shoppers’ entire order consolidated and delivered to them at one time.

The warehousing is the key ingredient that makes the Tmall successful. Alibaba has outsourced to logistics management company Guangdong ALOG to handle this aspect of chaoshi.tmall.com. ALOG manages warehouses with 200,000 square meters of space across China. From the warehouses, the Tmall sells roughly 20,000 products, including cosmetics, home furnishings, household cleaning goods, food, beverages, and more. This is a great lesson for any company that may just need a shift in their online retail approach.

With every online retail business, whether in the US or elsewhere, has to be an effective delivery system. Tmall performs its’ own same-day delivery, charging around $2 per order and free delivery for orders over $15. A same-day courier like A-1 Express is a viable option for online retailers that can’t perform their own deliveries. The Boston courier can also help with fast returns and correct delivery errors.

Reference: 4.4.14, Fortune Magazine, Dan Mitchell, Next up for disruption: The grocery business

Staples Increases Investment Toward Online, Same-Day Delivery Could Be Next

With e-commerce continuing to show its’ muscles in the business world, it is no wonder more and more companies are shifting their focus toward it. It use to be unthinkable to shut down your brick-and-mortar locations to make a greater investment into the web, until now. This is exactly what long-time office supply giant Staples is taking strides in doing, in order to keep up with the big changes overall that are occurring for companies to grow right now.

Staples, in fact, has plans to cut costs by $500 million and has a goal to close up to 225 North American locations by 2015 reported the Internet Retailer last week. This is about 12% of its’ 1,800 stores across the US, which as a whole, is a big move by Staples. The retailer clearly is serious about making the necessary changes to compete. Their number of products offered went up fivefold, however, sales only increases slightly by 1.4% in 2013. This equated to a total sales decline of 11%.

The interesting figures that could have sparked the shift by Staples is in spite of the low overall sales growth, Staples.com actually increased its’ sales by 10.4%. CEO Ron Sargent agrees that their retail sales are shifting toward online and that’s the direction the company is going in. He stated, “A year ago, we announced a plan to fundamentally reinvent our company. With nearly half of our sales generated online today, we’re meeting the changing needs of business customers and taking aggressive action to reduce costs and improve efficiency.”

There were some definite changes indeed that Staples implemented last year that showed its’ aggression to meet its’ online goals. The company ended the 2013 with 400,000 more online products available on their site then a year before. Staples also eliminated over one million square feet in space through various ways, such as store downsizing and relocating into more efficient space. Kiosks have been installed in stores to meet customer needs as well.

Ultimately, Staples wants sales to increase and it is making the necessary changes toward online business to make this a reality. E-commerce is something many other heavy-hitters in the retail world have made investments in to gear their business and services to what shoppers are attracted to. One of those measures is convenience, which companies like Google, Amazon, eBay, Target, and others have implemented same-day delivery, enabling them to deliver online orders to a shopper’s front door. Wal-Mart not only offers same-day delivery, but also store pick-up services for online orders. When a customer arrives, their order is already pulled and ready for them to easily pick up.

This can be another innovative change for Staples to be able to offer its’ online customers. The office company could offer same-day delivery as a shipping option at checkout and same-day courier like A-1 Express can perform their online deliveries. The Seattle Courier meets the demands that comes along with online retail, and shoppers can even be recommended by Staples to pick their online orders up for them.

Reference: Internet Retailer, Paul Demery, Staples shifts investment to the web

M-Commerce Growth Globally Will Create More Same-Day Delivery

There is no such thing as mobile commerce, or m-commerce, being a distant second to online shopping at home. Tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices, have all contributed to new trend of convenience, seeking to do your daily functions that were once limited to conducting in one location. Now, consumers can do it all, literally in the palm of their hands and from wherever they happen to be. It is no wonder the numbers are showing that m-commerce is increasing, not only in the US, but worldwide.

Internet Retailer has a recent report that discussed the impact m-commerce is having worldwide. 60% of global mobile consumers use their mobile device as the primary or even exclusive means to engaging online. This is accompanied with the fact that 83% of them said that they will purchase a product from their mobile device within the next 12 months. What once was seen insignificant and merely trendy, has emerged as a key factor to business growth. InMobi, a mobile advertiser, performed the survey, which included a broad base of 14,473 mobile device users globally.

InMobi’s 2014 Mobile Media Consumption Report, there were a number of countries surveyed, including China, France, Indonesia, South Korea, Nigeria, Germany, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, United Kingdom, and the US. The report showed that 48% of the respondents agreed that mobile commerce is the key channel affecting purchasing decisions right now. Whether at home or on-the-go, shoppers are engaging online at any time.

Other findings relative to m-commerce showed what users are doing with their mobile devices. 78% of those surveyed have downloaded mobile apps, 56% have visited an online retail store for more information, 44% have located an advertiser on a map, 43% have called an advertiser via the phone number on the ad, and 68% have visited the web site of an advertiser. In addition, 61% of mobile web users are now as comfortable with mobile advertising as with their TV or online advertising. This opens doors for online retailers seeking to draw shoppers their way. More that 52% of mobile users responded to mobile advertising as well.

M-commerce is not only having an impact on how consumers can shop in regards to accessibility, but also how e-retailers will get the product delivered to them. Companies like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Google, BestBuy, and more are all involved in some form of same-day delivery to meet the mobile commerce demand. Wal-Mart has partnered with top Chinese retailer Yihaodian to perform fast deliveries there as well. Smartphones and other mobile devices, are the top sources for internet access, such as Indonesia and India, which were surveyed.

With m-commerce, the possibilities are endless in regards to the convenience shoppers have at their fingertips. A same-day courier services like A-1 Express is the most quickest and viable option for companies that desire to get into the m-commerce game. The Boston Courier has a national footprint, able to perform same-day delivery anywhere fast. When partnering with A-1 Express, companies will be assured that as m-commerce continues to grow, they will grow with it.

Reference: 2.20.14, Internet Retailer, Bill Briggs, M-commerce is saturating the globe

US Postal Service Testing Same-Day Delivery In New York

It can be said about the US Postal Service that the company has no quit in it. With the recent years of drought in first-class mail sales and losing billions due to lower mail volume, the Postal Service could have started cutting services or even shutting its’ doors. However, it didn’t. The company chose to roll up its’ sleeves, find another way to use their assets and make something work. Looks like it finally has.

The US Postal Service has reported that in the last three months of 2013, the company delivered 1 billion packages. This is a 10% increase in comparison to the same period in 2012. It also showed revenue went up 14% to $3.4 billion within that time. This is a huge sign for the future of the postal giant. Metro Post, its’ new same-day delivery service, was also launched last year in San Francisco and in New York in December, also helping the USPS gain some momentum. Same-day delivery is a new concept that a number of online retailers, such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, eBay, Google, and more, are testing to meet online demand.

Metro Post in New York is doing a whole lot better than the pilot program in San Francisco. It was launched last year in hopes of same-day delivery working in one of the most popular cities for it, however, it didn’t do well at all. San Francisco Metro Post delivered only 95 packages in five months. “It was a rushed pilot—they announced it, but it wasn’t really ready to go. Sometimes you learn more from the failures than the successful ones.” said Jim Sauber, chief of staff of the letter carriers’ union. This is not the case for the New York Metro Post. Since its’ December conception, the service has had 68 packages delivered within a day.

Another move the USPS has engaged with New York Metro Post is partnering with web-based retailers and deliver for them on Sundays. The postal company is currently working with web-based online giant Amazon in not only New York, but also Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The article discussed how the Sunday service is very attractive to customers and is growing quickly. So far, Metro Post has delivered over 2.5 million packages for Amazon. If this continues to go well, it could lead to other innovative ways the two companies can partner up and perform same-day delivery elsewhere. There is known the USPS only has five letter carriers operating in New York.

With the downswing of first-class mail sales, the Postal Service is making the right turns now to generate revenue by venturing out and offering other services. The core driver of all of their sales is the growth of business online. Other web-based and physical store retailers that don’t have their own vehicle fleet like the Postal Service, can turn to a same-day courier services like A-1 Express to make their deliveries. This New York Courier has the courier expertise and superior performance to meet a wide range of same-day delivery needs nationwide.

Reference: 2.13.14, www.businessweek.com, Devin Leonard, The U.S. Postal Service Tests Same-Day Delivery

Wal-Mart's Second E-Commerce Operation Launched In Silicon Valley

Wal-Mart is spreading its’ wings all around the globe and there is no other retailer like it. The company is moving at a fast pace relative to its’ advancement in e-commerce. This aspect of business is becoming so vital for companies, that investment into this area commands technological experts to make it successful. Wal-Mart understands that the key to landing these tech engineers is to open up an e-commerce operation right where they are—Silicon Valley.

This is exactly what the retail giant did, and they now have a second office in Silicon Valley reported Internet Retailer. The new location is about 30 miles away from their San Bruno location. So far, Wal-Mart has almost 500 employees at this office, with plans to expand to 1,000. This is a huge staff undertaking, which shows it’s confidence level in the area. Their San Bruno location has 1,500 employees as well.

In the article, a Wal-Mart spokesman explained the logic behind building the new facility. The spokesman stated, “We chose Sunnyvale to take advantage of the talent density in the South Bay. San Francisco and the peninsula tend to offer design, app and [user interface] talent, and though there’s plenty of tech talent there, the South Bay has a higher concentration of engineers and technologists. We’re expanding to South Bay to geographically target this different skill set.”

The spokesman also shared some reasons why Wal-Mart can compete against the best of them in the area in regards to acquiring new talent in the area. “Competition for tech talent here is fierce, but we're able to attract and retain talent because of our nimble, startup like culture, and the opportunity for technologists to innovate at a global scale only Wal-Mart can offer, we had a 94% acceptance rate for our job offers.” Wal-Mart isn’t going anywhere and tech experts are comfortable with Wal-Mart’s business direction.

That is indeed correct regarding the global reach that Wal-Mart has, especially with its’ own physical locations, which competitors like Amazon and eBay don’t have. This means a broader growth path for many technologists. The retail giant even has an e-retail partner Yihaodian in China that is has a 51% stake in and has helped it thrive there. With Wal-Mart’s expertise and logistical infrastructure, Yihaodian e-web sales spiked upward last year to $2 billion, growing at a rate of 70% in 2013, all because of Wal-Mart’s aggressive move within the world of e-commerce.

Wal-Mart is growing in the US as well, being very innovative with its’ implementation of same-day delivery in major cities. Same-day grocery service has also been launched relative to e-commerce, with its’ recent strategic roll-out in Denver. Select stores in the city are offering “Walmart To Go”, where customers have the option to order their groceries online and then go pick up their order. Wal-Mart’s main e-commerce competitor is Amazon, which also is global and offers AmazonFresh in the US, its’ version of same-day grocery service. A same-day courier like A-1 Express can help large both corporations like these make there deliveries fast and without having to gain any courier expertise themselves.

Reference: 2.7.14, Internet Retailer, Thad Rueter, Wal-Mart opens a second e-commerce office in Silicon Valley