If you are one of the many suppliers that have been blessed with large quantities of sales this holiday season, you are probably also suffering a bit from the cost of meeting that demand. According to projections by Deloitte, holiday sales are forecasted to rise conservatively 1.5% up to a more aggressive projection of 3.5%, with consumers starting even earlier this holiday season and shopping through January.

Suppliers face many challenges today, with the emphasis shifting away from brick and mortar and towards e-commerce, suppliers need to constantly grow and evolve in ways that improve both relationships with sales channels and with customers.  Sales channels are also...

Is Your Warehouse Efficient Enough for the New e-Commerce World?
In a typical year, suppliers and their warehouses have ample time to reset and prepare for the big holiday rush, but 2020 has thrown the supply chain industry for a loop. Consumers have required nonstop shipment of both essential and non-essential items even through Covid and shelter in place regulations, leaving the industry to balance remaining open while still prepping for this year’s holiday rush.

All aboard as 2020 is coming to a close and things are so different from how anyone forecasted them at the end of 2019!  The pandemic has turned the world upside down with e-commerce sales drastically escalating and brick and mortar sales diminishing. This is causing...

Order Processing in Under 8 Seconds

Many suppliers are doing more business than ever in this pandemic, with consumers’ needs not only requiring more items to ship but expecting the same two-day turnaround provided prior to the pandemic.

This past week, the race to drone delivery crept one step closer to reality-- the FAA granted Amazon the “air carrier” certificate needed to operate a drone delivery network in the US. As only the third company granted approval, this certificate allows Amazon to carry...

eCommerce Trends of 2020 As eCommerce continues to rapidly evolve and the definition of a new normal with shelter in place, social distancing and closures of non-essential businesses continues, shoppers are forced to embrace the new era of online shopping – for almost...

As we close out summer and begin preparation for the upcoming holiday season, one thing is for sure in this season of Covid – consumers will be spending money for the upcoming holiday season, no matter what. According to Brandwatch, 44% of consumers think they’ll be...

With less than 4 months until this holiday craze begins and officials unclear on if there could be a second lockdown with the second wave of the pandemic, OPAL is here to help you prepare now for the next shipping craze ahead.

Considering hiring more people to keep up with your orders?  As a business owner, you face challenges every day like how to grow your product line, should you hire additional staff, or how to keep up with the ever-increasing demand of consumers and retailers. ...

As the world of ecommerce has shifted away from a few bulk shipments to retailers to drop shipping small parcels for retailers directly to customers, EDI compliance has increased in both importance and cost. What is EDI?Electronic data interchange (EDI) provides a...

One thing is for sure, during this time of Covid-19 ecommerce has been expected to level up its customer experience, requiring teams and business models to evolve rapidly. What was once a cumbersome process, suppliers are now able to partner with new sales channels in...