US holiday spending up despite negative economic outlook | Warehouse construction cooled in 2023 | Nov. single-family housing starts the highest since April 2022
Despite a largely negative economic outlook, Americans plan to spend roughly $1,300 on average this holiday season, a 31% increase from a year ago, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey. Eighteen percent of respondents plan to spend more this year, up from 11% last year and the highest since 2019, with 32% citing higher income and 24% citing inflation. The CNBC Survey showed slight improvements in respondents' economic views and outlook, but overall thoughts remain negative on the economy, with 80% calling the economy fair or poor, compared to 19% calling it excellent or good.
Investors scaled back industrial development, with construction starts in this sector dropping 48% in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to a CoStar report. Warehouse construction surged in recent years, but higher borrowing costs and a slowdown in leasing stalled the trend. Still, vacancies remain low, and construction is robust from a historical perspective.
US single-family housing starts jumped to a more than 18-month high in November, increasing 18% to an annual rate of 1.14 million units, according to the Commerce Department. Declining mortgage rates and homebuilder incentives likely drove the increase. Permits for single-family construction also increased to the highest level since May 2022. Economists expect homebuilding to help drive gross domestic product growth next year as low existing home inventories continue to spur new building.
Sysco is working with iFoodDS to help the food distributor and its suppliers capture, store and share traceability data to comply with the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act. The proof-of-concept project will explore how to implement a flexible, scalable and interoperable traceability system.
First Look: 2023's Fastest-Growing Companies Similarweb's Digital 100 is coming soon! The annual rankings showcase the 100 fastest-growing companies from 2023, spotlighting growth strategies, digital trends, and evolving consumer behaviors. Get a sneak peek before the official release (and ahead of your competition!). CLICK HERE
Organizations looking to create a resilient and sustainable supply chain need to connect it with their procurement and finance teams, writes Nari Viswanathan, senior director of product segment marketing at Coupa Software. Viswanathan suggests companies use external data to identify market shifts, integrate sustainability in supply chain decisions, identify capability gaps and monitor N-tier suppliers.
The US, UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain are participating in the newly formed Operation Prosperity Guardian naval task force to protect commercial ships from Houthi missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. "This is an international challenge that demands collective action," said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a statement.
Nearly one-third of disruptions in 2022 came from Tier 2 suppliers that companies often had no direct relationship with, according to the 2023 Business Continuity Report. Those experiences underscore the need for management to establish an effective supply chain risk management strategy and take comprehensive action to minimize disruptions to their business. Karen Lobdell, a senior product manager at OneSource Global Trade, offers 10 supply chain risk mitigation strategies and best practices.
UPS is increasing its weekly domestic ground delivery surcharge to 15.75% this week after reducing the rate from 15.5% to 15% last week, while FedEx is reducing its charge to 15.5% after increasing it to 16% Dec. 11. Analysts say that "surcharge levels stay higher long after prices have dropped, allowing the carriers to reap additional revenue on each transaction," writes Mark Solomon.
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
The top concerns marketers have with AI are the potential for job replacement, followed by quality output, accuracy, the usefulness of generative AI tools and the potential for over-reliance, per Hubspot research. Marketing leaders offer suggestions and examples of ways to overcome these fears, including involving the team in the decision-making process and maintaining human control of the end result with content creation and other aspects.
When conducting e-commerce sales, it's essential to have proper data management tools for both sales and warehouse inventory in order to analyze ways to make a more personalized customer experiences, say these experts. This data can drive better SEO, where to geo-target ad campaigns and how to resolve customer problems efficiently.
Supporting and helping young employees grow, especially their soft skills, is more complicated with remote work, but flexibility is essential, writes Bryan Otte, the chief human resources officer at MGAC. Noting an Albert Einstein quote -- "You cannot use an old map to explore a new world" -- Otte offers suggestions for adapting a mentor/mentee relationship, including making intentional matches that involve "mutual respect and compatibility."
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.
