US retail sales increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month compared with November, according to the Commerce Department. Excluding autos, sales increased 0.4%. Retail sales were up 5.6% from a year earlier, higher than the rate of inflation.

Business inventories declined in the US in November for a second consecutive month, according to the Commerce Department. The 0.1% drop followed a similar decline in October and reflects a slowdown in inventory investment. Business inventories are expected to weigh on fourth-quarter GDP growth as businesses slow their inventory accumulation in anticipation of slower demand.

Fastener and industrial hardware distributor Hillman Solutions is entering the chain and rope market with the acquisition of Koch Industries, a supplier of rope and twine, chain, wire rope and other related hardware products. Hillman plans to add Koch's 2,300 products in the rope and chain category to its product portfolio and find efficiencies in shipping, sourcing and service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Inventory management and control are critical aspects of business, and distributors need a comprehensive enterprise resource planning system that minimizes errors by incorporating real-time updates and predictive analytics for trending products, writes Dave Snider, vice president of marketing at Advantive. An effective ERP system will also make data accessible to streamline operations and improve security, Snider writes.

Younger employees -- born in 1981 or later -- are increasingly becoming purchasing managers or leading procurement teams, and seven in 10 buyers see digital interactions with suppliers as more convenient and prefer to use that route, according to a survey by Digital Commerce 360 and Forrester. Yet buyers are still traditional when they communicate with sellers, with 55% of buyers still preferring email, followed by 45% for live chat with a human, the survey found.

Shippers are feeling the effects of Houthi attacks on the Red Sea with increased rates, longer transit times and delays that are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, according to experts. HSBC's Global Head of Shipping and Ports Research, Parash Jain, says he expects a surge in air freight with rates expected to increase over the next two to three weeks.

Marketers using generative AI can avoid perpetuating misinformation and stereotypes and comply with copyright laws by fact-checking results, obtaining permission to use copyrighted material and ensuring prompts are not biased, says Paul Pallath, Searce's vice president for Applied AI. Pallath says that it's up to people to ensure ethical training and use of AI, and notes we must "ground ourselves in empathy."

New Salesforce artificial intelligence tools use the Einstein 1 data platform for tasks such as personalized chats with shoppers, ecommerce site design and target segment creation. A number of the features have already become available, and Salesforce plans to bring out the rest in spring and summer.

Nearly 40% of chief executives are optimistic about the strength of the economy, more than double from a year earlier, yet 45% are concerned that their businesses won't be viable in a decade without reinvention, according to a global PwC survey. AI is expected to improve companies' products and services, but executives are concerned about its impact on cybersecurity and misinformation, and 69% of CEOs believe workers need training to gain AI skills.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told a World Economic Forum event in Davos that the US is poised for a soft landing this year, and that global growth will benefit from the momentum built at the end of 2023. "The world economy has proven to be remarkably resilient. 2023 comes better than we expected by a small margin. There is some wind coming from 2023 into 2024," Georgieva said.

Fewer than 30 slots remain for the 2024 NAW Executive Summit, taking place from January 30 - February 1, 2024, at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity to network with the best and brightest minds in the industry and gain a competitive edge with cutting-edge insights and actionable strategies on critical topics like innovation, business growth, operational excellence and more. Learn More.

Interested in membership with NAW? Reach out and let us know how we can help you.