Nicholas Daniel-Richards

"mandate" - an official order to do something. This word has such negative connotations. Walmart mandated that its suppliers attach RFID tags to merchandise supplied to them. The result ? "Players within Walmart’s supply chain, in particular, have reported a strong double-digit increase in demand as a direct result of the mandate." Better sell through's, reduced shrink, bigger (or more targeted) orders and lower markdown contributions are some of the benefits suppliers are reaping from the "mandate". I suggest we change the narrative from a mandate to a partnership. If retailer asks a supplier to RFID tag, this will lead to a win-win. A win for the retailer and the supplier - that's a true partnership. #RFIDisBAU #thehighcostofdoingnothing

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One of our DSP customers just went live with "ad previews" to enable their self-serve customers the ability to generate screenshots for an ad directly in their UI, all powered by the Ad Reform API. One of the VP's just texted me screenshot the feature in action! This functionality reduces their time spent internally on screenshots, it empowers their self-serve customers with a new feature, and it helps them differentiate against their competition. You can check out our API docs with a link in the first comment if you're interested.

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AI is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for enhancing efficiency across different organizational levels. How is your company implementing AI, and are you seeing positive results?

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If you don't believe that investing in advanced traceability solutions is a strategic necessity for adhering to new regulations then consider your brand’s values in a market that increasingly prizes transparency and ethical practices. https://buff.ly/4enUXE6 #supplychain #humanrights #brandvalues

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🎧🎙️Just tuned into an insightful podcast with Karl Swensen, CEO of Pull Logic, on tackling the massive $1.8 trillion inventory distortion problem! Karl explains how their AI-powered technology helps retailers, brands, and manufacturers get the right products in stock at the right time. Key takeaways: 🎯Inventory distortion isn't just about having too much inventory; it's about having the wrong inventory. 🎯Pull Logic's Product Availability Ratio (PAR) score is a game-changer for optimizing inventory management. 🎯Data analytics and AI are critical for identifying the right products to stock and reducing waste. This episode is packed with valuable insights if you're in the retail, #manufacturing, or supply chain space! https://lnkd.in/ef9Xcvfx FreighTech Advisors Taresh Grover Benoit Montreuil Georgia Institute of Technology

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A good conversation on American television regarding the use of ESLs (Electronic Shelf Labels) and the impact of dynamic pricing. At Wasteless AI we understand the impact of smart markdowns using stickers and, in a later stage, with the help of ESLs. It is great to see that it is becoming the new industry standard. It makes sense too! Such a transition is not only logical but also indicative of the forward-thinking nature of the retail landscape and the need to do it differently! CNBC Walmart

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Amazon continues to push the limits of delivery speed - using analytics to reconfigure their domestic distribution network once again, cutting delivery times in half since 2018. Localizing the 100 most in-demand products by region and handling picking, packing, and distribution from one location allows them to shorten the distance between warehouse and customer - even in rural areas. According to the company, this both increases demand and reduces emissions. Amazon has added 16 million sq. ft. of warehouse space in 2024 alone. Driving this change? Multiple factors - including competition from Walmart and Target, who can leverage store locations for fulfillment, as well as SHEIN and Temu, who are attracting consumers with their strikingly low prices. I have a feeling that the data and analytics underpinning this strategy and the associated investments are a thing of beauty. Did AI help? Probably. But just as important is the courage and vision to challenge your own approach, taking a leading position... but not taking it for granted. https://lnkd.in/enpeWvNz #supplychain #logistics #distribution

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We interact with 100+ eCom brand owners and operators doing $2m-$50m/y+ every month. If I could gather all of them into one room together, here’s what I’d tell them: Sales & inventory decision-making have to be made together. In-sync & interdependent on each other. The best sales decisions are made based on inventory limitations & constraints. The best inventory decisions are made based on sales plans. …You always want to sell what you have in your inventory …And you always have in your inventory what you want to sell. I’ve personally talked to literally thousands of brand owners and operators in the last 5 years & I’ve noticed one common theme: Inventory & sales decisions are almost always detached. It leads to inefficiencies in the supply-chain which hurts the brand. Let me illustrate this with an example: Let's say you're selling wireless earbuds. Your inventory team, based on historical data, orders 5,000 units for Q4. Meanwhile, your sales team sees a market opportunity and starts a promotion, unaware of future inventory constraints. They're expecting to sell 8,000 units. Result: You sell out of 5,000 units in the first week of the promotion. Lose potential sales of 3,000 units (37.5% of forecast). At $99 per earbud set, that's $297,000 in lost revenue. Customers face "out of stock" messages. You miss out on the demand and lose market share & revenue. Now imagine this misalignment happening multiple times a year… …This is the result of sales & inventory not synergising together. And it’s a very real scenario which happens to the majority of brands. It’s detachment vs synergy. And in 2024, synergy wins.

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Tomorrow MarketMaze uncovers: 🧠 What differentiate retail & ecommerce leaders? 🔎 What are marketplace bundles? How much they are worth? 📰 What happened in the Ecommerce & Marketplace space last week? Packed read, no fluff, great visuals, and amazing partners! Link to subscribe in the bio #retail #ecommerce #innovation #bundle #Marketplace

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The future is DTC, even for a 171-year-old retail brand. Levi Strauss & Co. is consistently expanding into different categories and they're placing bets on direct sales in an attempt to counteract a slowdown in U.S. wholesale. DTC accounts for about 43% of the company's business and it's on the way to 55%. Sales are made both through their online marketplace and physical locations, which is an interesting hybrid approach. If items are not in stock in-store, customers have the option to place orders online while still in the store. Levi’s shift to DTC puts the company in a position where they are in control of the brand and how they engage with the consumer. And that’s the best thing about DTC; it allows brands to meet customers exactly where they are. Modernizing a legacy brand for the next generation of consumers is a challenging task. Many legacy brands struggle to keep up with younger demographics because they find it difficult to adapt. Levi is a great example that success can be found by pivoting based on customer feedback and meeting them exactly where they are.

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Interesting article on last mile delivery. This is one of those areas where the high level theory is super exciting, but low-level delivery network design and ruthless execution are *everything*. This led to a recent generation of failed attempts to build last mile delivery as startups. I don't hold out much hope that Shein and Temu will change that balance, only delay more failures. Is this an impossible area to build a startup in? No. But it's a problem where domain expertise has to meet capital, and a team has to be brilliant from a network design standpoint, combined with day-to-day operations chops. Those teams are super rare. https://lnkd.in/dgQjYZ_2

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Hot take: Don’t focus on product unit margins to expand profit on Amazon. Focus on LTV instead. Say I successfully haggle my supplier down by 5% on production costs (this would be a huge win in supplier negotiation). Because of the markups you need to make Amazon a viable model, you probably only increased your margin by around 2%. If instead I spent that time getting new customers to buy 2 units on average throughout the year instead of 1, this would have a 10% to 30% impact on overall margin for the Amazon brand. Plus, it increases revenue at the same time. This is why LTV is so powerful and important. I just jumped on with Marc Piwko Romero - Senior Strategist at Sophie Society - to walk through how we use brand analytics to measure LTV for our brands and why it's so important for every brand to do (video below).   Amazon doesn't give you LTV directly, but it gives you related repeat purchase data that allows you to back calculate LTV yourself. What gets measured gets managed. Once you start measuring LTV, you will inevitably start focusing on how to improve it over time.   Enjoy - and if you want our tool that takes Amazon's repeat purchase data and spits out LTV, LACoS, and LTACoS, comment "LTV" and I'll send it over.

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Dive into the latest insights from JOC.com by S&P Global as Eric Johnson and I explore how shippers are innovating in the post-pandemic logistics landscape. The article underscores the vital role of visibility and data-driven tools, in navigating the complexities of the post-pandemic landscape and building supply chain resilience. https://lnkd.in/gFdCGeKY Exploring visibility platforms?? See GoComet live in action today.. https://lnkd.in/eNnjqvD3 #AIPowered #RealtimeSupplyChainVisibility

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The latest Vendor head-scratcher 👇 Lost buy box issues   Since Amazon stopped providing lost buy box data through retail analytics, it's been difficult to get information without an AVS.   And when Amazon do provide the data, the results are questionable vs. third party software.    In a recent client audit, Amazon highlighted that the buy box was lost 4% of the time - which sounds manageable right? However the third-party analysis told a different story... Amazon was only in the buy box 60% of the time, suggesting that 40% of sales are going through 3P sellers.   So let’s assume the 3rd party software data is correct, why might Amazon be playing down buy box concerns? 🤔   My view - Amazon are laser-focused on hitting their profitability targets, they will sacrifice sales at the expense of maintaining NET PPM. Previously, they would only lose the buy box to sellers when they were unprofitable, now, they will lose the buy box if they are not profitable enough!   So what can you do?   That's a post for next week. ------- 👋 I'm Rich, Co-Founder of Push-Pull Agency and Amazon expert 🔖 Follow me for Amazon insights and ideas on agency growth. #AmazonAgency #AmazonGrowth #PushPullAgency #BuyBox #LostBuyBox #GrowthStrategy #AdAgency #Amazon

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🚨 A Subtle But Important Supply Chain Alert 🚨: Digital Price Tags & What It Means for the Retail Logistics In a world where efficiency is king, the retail landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Walmart's recent announcement to implement electronic shelf labels in 2,300 stores by 2026 is just the tip of the iceberg. But what does this mean for the supply chain and logistics industry? The not so ethical: Lightning-Fast Price Updates: What used to take days now takes seconds. Imagine updating prices across your entire supply chain with just a few clicks! Real-Time Inventory Management: Those flashing lights on electronic labels? They're not just for show. They're taking restocking game to a new level & helping third-party shoppers locate items faster. Data-Driven Decision Making: According to a study by McKinsey, companies that leverage supply chain analytics can reduce inventory levels by up to 33% and reduce supply chain administrative costs by 50%. That is huge! Now time to plug in Shyftbase lol Shyftbase eats and breathes data, allowing you to make informed decisions based on real-time data flow. Seamless Online-Offline Integration: Ensuring consistent pricing across online and in-store channels would never be easier. This is crucial in an omnichannel world where 73% of customers use multiple channels during their shopping journey (Harvard Business Review). Enhanced Customer Experience: From providing detailed product information to highlighting promotions, electronic labels open up new possibilities for customer engagement. But it's not just about the technology. It's about how we use it. At Shyftbase, we're committed to ethical practices that benefit both businesses and consumers. Let's connect and explore how Shyftbase can transform your supply chain for the digital age! #SupplyChainInnovation #RetailTech #DigitalTransformation #Shyftbase #LogisticsRevolution

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Load Secure is working to transform supply chain visibility through a platform that integrates precise real-time freight tracking, digital documentation capabilities, AI-driven optimization, and fraud prevention. Thank you Abbi Landers for taking the time to converse with us. We are excited for Load Secure and what it continues to improve and provide for shippers and 3PLs! #freightbites #freighttechnology #logitech #freightintelligence #logisticstechnewsletter #newsletter

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Over 100 years old, Perdue Farms leads the way in B2B and DTC with impressive e-commerce capabilities. They integrate partner systems for easy shopping of farm fresh food and collaborate with Samsung Electronics to sell smart fridges! Plot twist, right? 😎 David Zucker, EVP Chief Marketing and Digital Officer and GM Maxi, shares how the century-old company is utilizing partnerships, innovation, and strategic testing to drive the future of B2B and DTC e-commerce 📈 Learn how... ▶ Perdue Farms drives traffic from its digital properties to retailers, acting as a demand generator and partner for customers 🤝 ▶ They have a direct-to-consumer business that allows them to understand consumer behavior and preferences better 📓 ▶ Perdue Farms uses technology partnerships with PriceSpider, Bluecore, Salesforce to enable seamless purchasing experiences, such as adding recipe ingredients to a retailer’s cart 🧠 ▶ They partner with Samsung, allowing customers to buy Perdue products directly from their smart refrigerators 😋 ▶ Perdue Farms uses its direct-to-consumer platform to test new products and gather consumer feedback before launching them in grocery stores 👨‍🔬 Listen to The Stack Podcast episode here: https://lnkd.in/g3mE8Taz ⬇ ---------------- If you enjoyed this, hit the like and follow buttons for deeper insights into UX, CRO, Experimentation, and Conversion-Centered Design! ✅

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