Consumer prices increased 0.1% in November compared to the previous month, accelerating from the flat prices reported in October. Year-over-year prices were up 3.1%, a slight dip from the 3.2% reported a month earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, jumped 0.3% from the previous month and 4% from a year earlier.
Although many distributors have logged revenue increases of 30% or more over the past two years, many still need help to grow faster than their competitors due to a disconnect between buy-side cost supports and sell-side pricing, writes David Bauders, CEO of SPARXiQ. Bauders says precision pricing architecture can lead to higher usage rates by sales teams and reduce manual overrides that eat into margins. The SPARKiQ CEO delves deeper into the roles of bids and quotes, strategic pricing and vendor cost supports.
Lineage Logistics has signed on to the "Join the Move to -15 C" initiative founded by global logistics firm DP World and counts A.P. Moller-Maersk, CMA CGM, the Global Cold Chain Alliance and Hapag-Lloyd among its members. The group is exploring ways to achieve a shared net-zero goal for the business sector by 2050 and says research indicates raising the standard storage temperature of most frozen food from -18 Celsius to -15 could reduce carbon emissions equal to that emitted by 3.8 million vehicles per year without compromising safety.
The elusive nature of double-digit growth Most industrial businesses aim for double-digit growth. But because of a simple design flaw, they end up settling for single digits. This problem is easy to fix—in theory. (It's more complicated in practice.) The Machine shows how to redesign your sales organization for double-digit growth. Read now.
The US job market showed further signs of cooling in November, according to the Conference Board's Employment Trends Index, which fell to 113.05 from a revised 113.09 in October. The Employment Trends Index has steadily declined since reaching a peak in the spring last year. Most new jobs in the last six months have been added in government and service sectors like health care, leisure and hospitality, while other industries have experienced flat growth or job losses.
Air, ocean, rail and trucking firms are updating networks and launching new services to accommodate manufacturers that are increasingly reshoring, nearshoring and friendshoring operations and seeking fast lead times and greater distributor diversity, write Max Garland, Alejandra Salgado, Kelly Stroh, and Larry Avila. "Examples range across transportation modes, from cross-border services connecting Mexico, the US and Canada to new shipping routes out of Latin America," they note.
Diesel fuel charges for FedEx Ground are going up to 16% or 100 basis points, which eclipses UPS' recent 15.25% hikes. FedEx has also boosted its fuel levy from 16.25% to 16.75% for domestic US shipments handled by its FedEX Express air and international unit.
State of the Wholesale Supply Chain Industry As post-pandemic challenges persist, such as complex customer demand patterns and increasing volatility, supply chain organizations are recognizing they may require cutting-edge technologies to achieve their goals. Learn how companies can improve forecast accuracy, reduce costs, increase profitability, lower transportation costs and eliminate obsolescence. Read the white paper
Purpose-driven brands can rise above social media clutter by embracing unconventional storytelling methods through user-generated copy and influencers aligned with a brand's values and causes, writes Go Global Agency co-founder Sebastian Naum. Also consider interactive storytelling, AI-powered personalization, authentic case studies, integrating sustainability topics and "fostering communities that rally around shared values and a collective purpose," says Naum.
Meta's AI-powered Imagine is being launched as an independent tool that delivers four image variations for each text prompt along with a watermark designating Meta AI creation. Meta also made its celebrity chatbots available to all US users and is trialing a variety of AI features across its apps such as an Expander tool that converts landscape images to portraits in Stories and writing suggestions for Feed posts.
Better times for business are expected in 2024, according to 167 CEOs polled in December by Chief Executive magazine. CEOs' assessment of current business conditions and their forecasts of the future both improved, with the trend driven by a sense that inflation is being tamed and that the Fed may be able to end its cycle of rate hikes.
Being passed over for a promotion can discourage an employee, but leaders who express empathy and help them map out a plan for future advancement can give them a new sense of motivation, writes Luis Velasquez, the founder and managing partner of Velas Coaching LLC. That roadmap should include an assessment of their current skills and exactly what areas they'll need to master to advance in the organization, Velasquez recommends.
Experience three days of excellent networking opportunities, cutting-edge content, and educational programming for leaders in the wholesale-distribution industry at NAW's Executive Summit Jan. 30 - Feb. 1. Hear from world-class speakers and explore issues critical to the industry. Be prepared for what's next and learn new strategies to get there first. View agenda and registration information here.
