Bottom Line: This year's hard reset is amplifying how vital customer relationships are and how much potential AI has to find new ways to improve them.
Because customers who shop online cannot try on their purchases, a third of all Internet sales get returned. But handling these returns is costly, giving retailers that have both physical stores and digital sales a clear advantage over retailers that operate only online. A new study examined the decisions around the pricing and return policies of a retailer with both stores and online sales to help explain why some firms opt to fully refund customers for their returns while others charge a fee for online returns. The findings offer guidance to retailers about pricing and policies on returns and refunds.
“My C-Level execs need to hear this!” Such was one shipper’s response I received after publishing a recent Two Minute Warning about how too many executives take their supply chains for granted. Candidly, I know that this is a challenging message for C-Level executives to hear, because over the years I’ve received several calls and had conversations with presidents and CEOs who have expressed concerns about the effectiveness of their supply chain.
Global supply chains have seen significant disruption from the spread of COVID-19. For crop protection, it has interrupted production along the entire crop input value chain — from raw materials to manufacturing to packaging to distribution to transportation.
At a school known for the strength of its supply chain and operations management faculty, Saurabh Bansal is considered a superstar. The 39-year-old Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Operations Research made this year’s Best 40 Under 40 Professors list both for his strength and pipeline in research and publishing as well as the nearly-dozen strong reviews from colleagues and students.
Ashley Smith
Public Affairs Coordinator
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3578
An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.
Something remarkable is happening in Washington. Tech executives who once shunned the political spotlight now make regular pilgrimages to Capitol Hill, and artificial intelligence — a field that traces back to the 1950s — has become the talk of the town.
The company will no longer let people hang out or use its restrooms without making a purchase. It's a business move that some say could come with unintended consequences of racial bias reminiscent of an incident that thrust one Philadelphia Starbucks into the national spotlight.
Tariffs could raise the cost of medical care and prescription drugs for people in the U.S.
New findings from a team of renowned researchers calls for transparency and rigorous oversight of the U.S. Medicare Advantage (MA) program, the United States' largest healthcare capitation program.
A groundbreaking new study in the INFORMS journal Transportation Science reveals the severe and far-reaching consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on global food security. The research highlights an urgent need to address disruptions in the transportation of Ukrainian grains, which have caused dramatic price spikes and worsened food insecurity worldwide, particularly in vulnerable regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.
Dockworkers on the East and Gulf coasts could go on strike again in less than two weeks if they don’t reach a contract agreement with ports and shippers. Talks are set to resume next week, according to Bloomberg. The main sticking point between the two sides? Automation.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban's question to Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, on energy costs took off on social media on Saturday.
Florida lawmakers have banned wind turbines off its shores and near the coast, saying the bill is meant to protect wildlife and prevent noise.