Dive Brief:

• Retailers are shifting their strategies to provide better service for consumers, with nearly half in a survey by Auburn University saying their supply chain management strategy is to balance cost and service. By contrast, only 8% said their strategic focus is to cut costs. 

To enhance service, retailers are focusing on urban markets. 80% surveyed said urban fulfillment is an area of growth, with one respondent describing urban logistics as "the new battleground."

According to a global survey, 78% of consumers want to receive updates on the status of their orders when purchasing goods, and they won't hesitate to switch brands if supply chain performance fails to meet their expectations. 

The retail giant Carrefour has decided to rely on Geoconcept, the specialist of design and publishing of cartographic optimization solutions, to continue its growth in Belgium.

The process of digitizing global supply chains continues to generate a lot of interest and discussion in the industry, perhaps because it’s really about embarking on a transformational journey. While the end destination offers some great potential benefits, there are some key questions for many companies, including: are we even ready to get started? What are the prerequisites to digital supply chain transformation? And once we get started, in what ways can we ultimately achieve value?

The global blockchain in supply chain market is forecast to maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 48% between now and 2023, reaching a total valuation of $424mn of the end of the period.

Many retailers are already using in-store inventory to fulfill online orders in a short timeframe, and that's expected to increase as 40% of logistics companies anticipate offering two-hour delivery by 2028, according to a recent survey of more than 2,700 professionals in transportation, logistics, retail and manufacturing conducted by Zebra Technologies.

The world of fashion may have gotten too fast for Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), which last week reported yet another poor financial quarter.

Sustainability is increasingly becoming a board level issue, with 42% of fashion brands now publishing information on suppliers. But how can a retailer embed sustainability good practice into every aspect of the business? Alan Gunner, Business Development Director, Adjuno, considers the next steps for sustainable retailing.

Global logistics spending is expected to reach $10.6trn in 2020, with transportation accounting for the majority at 70%, according to a new report.

Research by Frost & Sullivan predicts that technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and crowdsourcing, coupled with an influx of tech-savvy start-ups, are unbundling the value chain and transforming delivery models.

Jiangxi Fengyu Shuntu Technology Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China’s largest privately owned logistics service provider, SF Express, has received the first drone operator license in the country, The Paper reported.

The trial license, granted by the East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, was issued in the context of an exploration of the licensing management.