MultiBriefs - Your source for industry specific News Briefs

Amazon delivers a new kind of logistics

Robert Gordon Distribution & Warehousing

Although many people are focusing on Amazon's recent earnings miss, it's important to look past that and realize the online retail giant has spent more than ever on logistics infrastructure. Amazon clearly added assets and is hiring 120,000 people to push its internal logistics initiative forward.

Metals Thoughts: Brave new world

Brad Yates Natural Resources

By now you have already read a thousand articles about "What Donald Trump means for _____," and I'll try and avoid that sort of simplistic analysis — primarily, because that assumes certainty in even the beginning of the probability tree, which I don't think even the president-elect has just yet.

What shoppers want from you this holiday season

Emma Fitzpatrick Retail

We're less than two weeks out from one of the biggest shopping days of the season, Black Friday! Then, the holiday shopping frenzy will begin. This year, like years past, will look remarkably different from the year before. More shoppers will be making purchases at home, often from their mobile device. In fact, online sales will now represent nearly 11 percent of all holiday sales, according to eMarketer. That's huge.

Does Black Friday still determine your holiday success?

Danielle Manley Retail

Black Friday would be described by most as the busiest shopping day of the year. However, year after year this proves to be less and less true based on financial figures. According to ShopperTrak, retailers made an estimated $10.21 billion in sales on Black Friday in 2015, which is an 11.9 percent decrease compared to 2014.

Metals Thoughts: Good night and good luck

Brad Yates Natural Resources

There is little I can add in the way of insight into the political outcome for today's general election, but we can look at the way the chips are stacked for some insight into the potential market reactions. Hillary Clinton's odds for victory look to be anywhere between 70 and 84 percent, depending on which poll aggregator model you use. Most Wall Street polls I have seen skew toward the higher end of that, though there is some innate selection bias.

The meaning of ‘great’ proves elusive in economic terms

Paul Zukowski Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Usually there's nothing like a presidential election to sharpen the discussion of job creation and economic growth. Then comes this year's race. All we got was a lot of unfocused debate on whether America needs to be reinspired to greatness or is already great. And does anybody know how to measure terms like "great"? Isn't it just an empty superlative word like good, better and best? Of course it is, because in whose opinion is something great?

The best ways to promote your products on Instagram

Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

The Instagram feature your brand has been waiting for is finally here (or at least in the works). Instagram is beginning to test shopping tags. This feature would allow your brand to easily track the ROI on your Instagram strategy, and you could finally stop using the unintuitive #linkinprofile.

Metals Thoughts: Subpar Tuesday edition

Brad Yates Natural Resources

With the election only one week away, FOMC tomorrow and nonfarm payrolls on Friday, it's not surprising to see implied volatility catching a bid here, especially as both gold and silver have been able to sustain the upward sloping support from the respective 200-day moving averages.

Small Business Saturday: How your company can get involved

Katina Hernandez Retail

As the holidays approach, consumers will flood stores in search of the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Nestled in between sales crazes of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday gives buyers looking to get the best deals an opportunity to support small businesses by shopping small and local.

Do you know where your packages are?

Danielle Manley Distribution & Warehousing

With everyone moving to online shopping and home delivery, the retail and delivery industries are experiencing many changes. Some companies are testing different delivery options that will make them stand apart from the crowd; others are studying the delivery process to determine where they can improve.

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