Amazon has leased a 500,000-square-foot space in Seattle for its first multi-level fulfillment center, in a move aimed at speeding delivery in densely populated areas. The three-story facility, which is the first such one in the US, will be outfitted with freight elevators to move forklifts and ramps that let trucks pull up to second-floor loading docks.

Associated Wholesale Grocers has turned to ReposiTrak to help keep track of out-of-stock items. The scan-based trading program informs suppliers of issues and ensures more accurate inventory replenishment.

HD Supply reported $135 million in earnings on revenue of $1.62 billion for the fiscal second quarter.

Shutterstock Chief Marketing Officer Lou Weiss talks about how digital and social platforms have empowered people and made it more important than ever for brands to create meaningful relationships based on authenticity and to deliver relevant experiences. "The sophistication that customers -- whether they be B2B or consumers -- expect has just gone up massively over the last 10 years as millennials and Gen Z, who are all digitally native, start to come into the professional workspace," he says.

Sales managers should look for resilience, responsiveness to feedback and communication skills when hiring sales representatives, writes Steli Efti. Efti offers seven qualities that should be top priorities for new hires.

Economic downturns can be managed by companies that are prepared and focus less on cutbacks than on investing in areas that are attractive to top customers, writes Grant Freeland, following up on Boston Consulting Group research. The economy is never happening in isolation, Freeland notes, and companies will have to deal with "continuing changes in demographics, technology, workforce preparedness and expectations, and policy and politics."

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