How shared-user automation helps retail and ecomm businesses thrive

January is an important month for UK businesses, which have just made it through the Black Friday, Christmas shopping and Boxing Day sales boom. In the final two months of 2023, British consumers spent approximately £24 billion online, a 3.7 per cent increase on the previous year.

Trust the logistics state of mind

Disruptive trends are sweeping the UK, and our world of warehousing and logistics is far from immune.

The heat - the energy

WE HAVE seen astronomical energy price rises for businesses. It’s hard to ascertain whether this is down to crises such as the war in Ukraine, with the hope that it may ease in the future, or whether it is now baked in due to deeper structural changes.

Weird scenes inside the goldmine

THIS ISSUE we take look at warehouse property, an investor’s goldmine driven equally by the insatiable demand for space caused by eCommerce and scarcity caused by lack of space and tight planning laws.

Using existing assets

It is very interesting to see Asda adapt its stance to last mile in its latest consultation. The review comes less than a month after venture capitalists bought a controlling stake in the firm.

The warehouse manager’s role has gone up a level

A fulfilment technology specialist is advocating warehouse management as an increasingly pivotal role in any company hierarchy and supply chain - as well as a higher level career path - because of the extraordinary logistical challenges we all now work in, says SnapFulfil CEO Tony Dobson.

Are old car parks the cavalry we’ve been waiting for?

There has long been a crisis in UK warehousing. The sustained growth of eCommerce throughout the last ten years has changed the dynamics of logistics in the UK profoundly, creating a demand for warehousing and delivery space close to centres of population that has not been easily met.

Tackling key topics at HSS Live!

HSS Live! is coming up on December 1. I’m really looking forward to hosting this webinar series. It has a great roster of speakers, it’s free to attend, you can dip in and out as you like, and you gain CPD as well. Furthermore, the content will be available on our website to view going forward.

Could the non-food foothold be key?

The new market angle could be most important as Ocado makes two ambitious robotic tech acquisitions.

Effective inventory management and the impact of design

When Covid struck, this presented a multitude of issues, namely managing the expedited shift to online consumer purchasing and changing demand for products, as well as consideration of the resilience of our distribution networks.