Consumer prices in July were up 3.2% from a year earlier and 0.2% from the previous month, according to the consumer price index. Price increases accelerated on an annualized basis for the first time in a year, ticking upward from June's 3%. Core prices, which omit food and energy, increased 4.7% annually and 0.2% from a month earlier.
Yellow's exit from the shipping industry reduces the US small-batch trucking capacity by 15% and increased prices to consumers will likely factor in by the holiday season as other trucking firms have told Yellow's customers that they will not match its low rates, said Ken Adamo, DAT Solutions' principal for global freight market intelligence. "If 10% of [less-than-truckload] volume is going up 20%, that's material," Adamo said, adding that some shippers may slow their pickup schedules to meet increased demand.
A decline in imports, exports and wholesale inventories led the US trade deficit to contract 4.1% to $65.5 billion in June, with imports falling to the lowest point in 18 months, the Commerce Department reports. The trade of goods with China decreased, and "[w]e expect depressed trade flows through the remainder of the year," says Oxford Economics economist Matthew Martin
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AI-based data analysis is already part of many companies' supply chain processes, but the current iterations of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, are trickier to incorporate due to the complex supply chain compliance requirements. However, companies that want to try generative AI can weave it into administrative tasks, demand forecasting and optimization, writes VAI Chief Information Officer Kevin Beasley.
Distributors can stay competitive in e-commerce by delving deep into data to understand trends and customers' needs, build trust, personalize communication, create targeted marketing campaigns and identify areas ripe for improvement, writes Helen Pina, vice president of marketing for White Cup. "When distributors start to work with their e-commerce channel and not around it, they can find ways to be successful in the new sales landscape that increasingly is leaning into digital channels," Pina writes.
Amazon is set to open a four-level, 2.2 million square-foot fulfillment center north of Melbourne in 2025, with up to 25 million small products in stock, and use a fleet of robots to help employees operate what is being billed as Australia's largest warehouse. "Robots will work collaboratively with employees by moving 'pods' of inventory to them, reducing the time and effort that would otherwise be required for the employee to stow items for sale or pick them for new customer orders," Amazon said.
To improve clicks on marketing emails, small businesses can clean up their email lists, reconsider how content provides value to customers and conduct tests to figure out the best times of day to send messages, writes Corina Leslie of ZeroBounce. "As a rule of thumb, send emails regularly and stick to a schedule," Leslie writes.
Roughly one-third of media buyers are unfamiliar with bid shading options offered by publishers to optimize programmatic buys and 70% are paying extra fees for it, wasting $6.6 billion annually, per Cognitiv and Alter Agents research. "Advertisers need a permanent solution, one that is designed for advertisers by media buyers, not a solution that publishers offered as a stop-gap solution to keep advertisers placated," says Cognitiv co-founder Aaron Andalman.
Waiting for coaching to improve a team member's (or your own) communication skills is short-sighted because the ability to effectively and efficiently communicate needs, points of view, strategies and company highlights is critical, writes Nancy Duarte, author and CEO of communications company Duarte. Leaders should tell bosses that professional development for communications simply can't wait, and Duarte arms readers with ways to do it using tips from Catherine Lang of ServiceNow, and Noelle Anderson of Snap.
Despite our differences on everything from politics to whether employees should return to the office, Dan Rockwell says there are five things we all want, including feeling good about ourselves and our work, forming fulfilling relationships and having the sense that our lives matter. "Leaders succeed when they help people get what they want," Rockwell notes.
