Amazon's shipping arm now handles more packages than FedEx and almost as many as UPS, according to a report from Pitney Bowes. The e-commerce giant's Amazon Logistics division delivered 4.2 billion parcels in 2020, compared with 1.9 billion the previous year, which represents 21% of the total delivery market, compared with 24% for UPS and 16% for FedEx, the report says.

Sponsored ads sitting atop Amazon search results accounted for approximately 73% of retailers' ad budgets spent on the platform in the second quarter, according to Merkle, after Amazon expanded listings from two to up to six slots. Canopy Management estimates the move also has driven cost per clicks from $0.86 in August 2020 to $1.27 last month, with Marketplace Pulse's Juozas Kaziukenas saying that Amazon's advertising changes "have replaced most of the functionality on the site."

Forrester's Craig Moore explains how business-to-business marketers can implement progress audits to correct errors or change course during campaigns. Moore outlines what steps are needed for audits during three campaign stages -- design, operational readiness and operational -- and what marketers should look out for during each phase.

Distribution salespeople need to adjust to changes in buying behavior and meet buyers where they are, says Maria Boulden, vice president and executive partner for sales at Gartner. "Distributors that transform their sales models have created for themselves either something very profitable when they sell it, or something impossible for somebody else to swallow because they're so good at what they do," Boulden says.

Transparency is a strategic effort, not a situation where leaders are self-centered or dump every bit of information onto people, writes Joel Schwartzberg. Being transparent means sharing information that serves strategy, inspires the team and gives just enough detail to meet people's needs and curiosities, Schwartzberg writes.

Begin a new role by creating a map of what you know, what you don't know and how people can help you fill in the gaps, writes Kristin Hendrix. "As long as we create a space where mistakes and errors are seen as fertile ground for growth, we have the space to find and fill blind spots," she writes.