At the beginning of March, California authorities had to shut down a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 80 after a massive snowstorm hit the region.

Needless to say, if you planned on a delivery arriving on time, it wasn’t happening. But what if that delivery included perishable goods? Well, the equation is completely different; there’s a shot clock.

That’s where Grip Shipping believes it can step in. The company provides e-commerce brands that sell and deliver perishable goods the technology that gives shipping recommendations based on the evolution of the fulfillment network.

• Grip’s technology uses data sets to determine in real time the best carriers, facilities, refrigerant amount, and box size for every package based on network conditions, founder and CEO Juan Meisel told Retail Brew.
• He said for e-commerce brands, the technology accounts for all kinds of delays, including weather events, multi-carrier relationships, and even worker strikes.

The company estimates that the closure of I-80 cost e-commerce brands up to $66 million in lost revenue.

Keep reading here.—KM

The journey from unidentified website visitor to loyal customer has many moving parts.

Wish you could just fast-forward prospects from newcomers into newfound fans? Customer movement is a marketing philosophy and practice focused on this very process—and Bluecore’s proprietary Customer Movement white paper can help you nail the journey.

This white paper was designed to help enterprise retailers understand both quantity (acquisition and retention) and quality (tenure, order value, and volume) of customer relationships.

The result? The ability to build a robust, active customer base that promotes growth.

Retail leaders embracing customer movement see 37% higher retention rates than those who don’t. Wanna join ’em? Dive into the white paper to start.

What would Unilever do for a Klondike bar? The answer, apparently, is not much, after the company announced on Tuesday that it plans to divest its entire ice cream division.

By the end of 2025, the CPG giant will create an entirely new business from its ice cream division, and possibly sell it, per the Wall Street Journal. The move is part of a restructuring plan that will shed 7,500 jobs and save $870 million over the next three years.

• This means Unilever is doing away with brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Popsicle, Klondike, Breyers, and Talenti.
• The restructuring plan, which is expected to run for the next three years, is Unilever’s attempt to focus on its other, more desirable categories under its stable of brands that include Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayo, and Tresemmé haircare products.

Keep reading here.—KM

Target is trying something new when it comes to self-checkout. Starting this week, the option is only available to customers buying 10 items or fewer. The retail giant piloted this approach at 200 stores last fall. Now it’s expanding the policy to its entire footprint, marking a significant pull-back in how self-checkout can be used at one of the country’s biggest retailers.

The company said that use of self-checkout soared during the pandemic, because customers preferred a more “contactless option.” Now “ease and convenience are top of mind,” Target said, so it piloted the 10-item limit and found that the checkout process was twice as fast.

“By having the option to pick self-checkout for a quick trip, or a traditional, staffed lane when their cart is full, guests who were surveyed told us the overall checkout experience was better, too,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, rival Walmart also appears to be experimenting with who gets to access self-checkout.

Keep reading here.—AV

Video is king (of the e-commerce revolution). With 58% of consumers relying on product videos to make purchasing decisions, it’s time to fully embrace video commerce. Based on a survey of 750 US consumers, Firework’s playbook is filled with critical stats + actionable insights to help you understand consumer behaviors in the digital age. Give it a read.