MSC Industrial Supply is modifying its e-commerce platform to give customers a better experience by using an API-based infrastructure that allows for more frequent tech updates and changes to marketing campaigns, say Faisal Hussain, vice president of e-commerce, and Mark Pickett, vice president of cross-channel growth. "We take a look at every single transaction, every feature, every capability, every small thing on the website, which can make or break the experience," Hussain says.

Lineage Logistics has announced it will start using as many as 150 linear generators that run on natural gas, hydrogen and other environmentally friendly fuels at its distribution centers in the US. The rollout of the Mainspring Energy generators will happen over 10 quarters.

Onboard applications from technology company AML can help warehouse operators control computer access and use mobile devices more efficiently, Kenny Ferguson, general sales manager, said. Labelmaster Vice President Robert Finn said his company's technologies and services ensure safe, compliant transport of dangerous goods, while ID Label Chief Marketing Officer Neal Lulofs said his firm's two-dimensional bar codes "allow data capture within inventory management software" and its cold storage labels work well in extreme conditions.

Help your emails reach customers by avoiding all caps or exclamation points, checking how emails are scanned by Gmail, targeting offers, not sending too many emails in a week and being aware of how your subject line reads, writes Carolyn Nye, senior sales support manager for Acxiom. "Always test email offers to help determine which works best for your audience," Nye writes.

Average marketing budgets increased from 6.4% last year to 9.5% of total company revenue in 2022, still behind the 2018-2020 average of 10.9%, according to Gartner's 2022 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey. Consumer products, Gartner reports, is the only industry category to experience a slight fall in budget, and spending is more evenly split this year between digital and traditional media, with social, paid search and online display the top channels for investment.

Congress should pass antitrust legislation -- the American Innovation and Choice Online Act -- to "restore balance to the American economy and clamp down on Big Tech to protect online sellers," writes author Jason Boyce. Boyce also discusses how Amazon's private-label products have hurt sales of similar products offered by third-party sellers.

Companies spend $4,129 per hire on average, plus the hidden costs of onboarding, while precise skill development can cost as little as $20 per employee per year and also boosts loyalty, writes Leo Goncalves, vice president of workforce solutions at the University of Phoenix. "The better answer is to continually evaluate the existing skills base in the organization's workforce, identify the specific skills that are needed, and then create training opportunities that close those skills gaps," Goncalves writes.

CEOs can get off the "treadmill of mediocrity" by confronting uncomfortable issues head-on and learning how to prioritize and focus on accomplishing "one Picasso a day," says Laurie Schultz, a veteran technology CEO and board director. "[I]t helps you go to bed at night and be able to reflect and say, that was my Picasso today," Schultz says.

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