Author: Archive

US Christmas retail spending surpasses USD 22 Billion

Posted by | Dec 17, 2007 | |

According to the latest figures from comScore, e-commerce spending for the first 44 days of the November – December 2007 Christmas season (November 1 – December 14) showed more than USD 22 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, marking an 18 pct gain versus the corresponding days last year. Monday, December 10 reached USD 881 million in sales (up 33 pct versus last year), registering as the heaviest online spending day of the season and the heaviest online spending day on record. However they expect things to hot up this week.

While the US seems to be calming down certain sites in the UK seem to be going into meltdown. We went to the Argos site to check on our order of IR presents at just after 2pm this afternoon and there was so much traffic it had defaulted to a message that basically said “we are experiencing heavy traffic please ring, email, text or visit the store.” Although the Monday lunchtime news featured a quite empty looking Argos packing centre, perhaps the news spurred on a whole new set of orders. Could this be the solution? Get a web cam in your packing centre and just loop a slow time in the warehouse video and “bingo” extra sales.

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Itella and the Finnish Government partner up in invoice processing

Posted by | Dec 17, 2007 | |

Last spring, Itella Information Oy won a competitive tendering round for the Government’s invoice processing services. The new contract, valid as from 1 December 2007, facilitates more extensive cooperation between Itella Information Oy and the Finnish Government. The State Treasury’s goal is to receive all of the Government’s incoming purchase invoices as e-Invoices by the end of 2009. The same applies to the majority of sales invoices.

In order to meet this target, cooperation with Itella is essential, says Kristiina Seppälä of the State Treasury.

– On an annual basis, this involves over 2.7 million incoming invoices and 13.2 million outgoing invoices. As regards the outgoing invoices, the major annual invoice batches comprise the Finnish Vehicle Administration’s approximately 6.7 million vehicle tax letters and over 5 million television fees by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Some 89 per cent of the invoices sent out by the Government are targeted at consumers. As to the Government’s incoming invoices, almost 70 per cent arrive in electronic format already, of which around 30 per cent do so as e-Invoices.

Itella digitises purchase invoices arriving at the bureau on paper, including them directly in the bureau’s purchase invoice recycling system, where the material is available for immediate use. With the help of Itella Information, various state offices can adopt completely electronic, efficient processes in information processing, which results in considerable savings for taxpayers. Electronic processes involve significant improvements in the efficiency of operations, thanks to the omission of manual work stages, fewer mistakes and faster information processing.

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DHL and Fujitsu commended for efforts in Green Logistics

Posted by | Dec 17, 2007 | |

DHL was commended today – along with Fujitsu Ltd – by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry for its DHL Exel Supply Chain business unit (trading in Japan under then name DHL Supply Chain Ltd) reducing CO2 emissions by 20 pct, or just over 300 tons per annum.

The Green Logistics Partnership Promotion Project seeks to reduce CO2 emissions by enhancing partnerships between shippers and logistics suppliers. Under the 2006 Green Logistics Partnership Project business model, DHL and Fujitsu have successfully reduced CO2 emissions by utilizing concentrated vehicle allocation control, consistently from point of sourcing to product delivery.

Three criteria were the basis for receiving the award: the shipper and logistics provider working together throughout the supply chain process in order to streamline the logistics operation; structuring the advanced tool for automatically calculating CO2 amount emitted based on the data both of actual measuring by in-vehicle terminal and of transportation detail; and. implementation of multiple measures to streamline logistics process, introducing site consolidation and electronic data processing.

DHL has a logistics outsourcing agreement with Fujitsu to fulfill most of its logistics needs in Japan, including the delivery operations cited above, truck trunking, rail transport network, warehouse management, packaging material design, reverse logistics services, service parts delivery, heavy machinery installation and the recycling of information technology devices.

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DMNews debuts first DMNews/Pitney Bowes survey

Posted by | Dec 17, 2007 | |

The first DMNews/Pitney Bowes survey on direct mail and the environment suggests that consumers greatly overestimate the environmental impact of direct mail, a fact that likely colors attitudes toward the medium. Nonetheless, the survey shows that people enjoy their mail and do not want to stop receiving it — even if doing so were to benefit the environment — and that they are open to industry efforts to police itself.

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FedEx Express to build a regional headquarters operation in La Hulpe (Belgium)

Posted by | Dec 16, 2007 | |

headquarters facility in La Hulpe to serve markets in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.

The company cited La Hulpe’s central location in Europe, the retention of its Belgian employees, access to international and public transportation connections, and a commercially zoned site set in natural surroundings as factors in the site location decision, said Robert W. Elliott, president of FedEx Express, Europe, Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Africa.

The move to La Hulpe will allow FedEx to consolidate its headquarters, which are currently split between three sites in Belgium. The company has operated in Belgium for nearly a quarter-century.

The planned relocation will involve about 600 personnel, encompassing office staff and the company’s senior management.

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Malaga and Granada faces Christmas postal chaos

Posted by | Dec 16, 2007 | |

Postal workers in Spain are to stage a three-day walkout in protest at low salaries.

The strike, which will run from December 23 to the end of Christmas Day, has been organised by trade unions UGT and the postal workers’ representatives SLC.

“Postal workers do not believe they are remunerated sufficiently to deal with the workload they are given,” a UGT spokesman said.

The walkout, which has been timed to cause maximum delay over the busy festive period, is also a protest over equal opportunities.

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Springer puts postal division up for sale (Germany)

Posted by | Dec 15, 2007 | |

Axel Springer put Pin Group, its domestic logistics subsidiary, for sale after the Berlin parliament passed a controversial minimum wage bill for the postal sector which the company claims will make it impossible to compete.

Springer, which publishes Germany’s leading tabloid newspaper Bild , said it was withholding additional funding to Pin and was prepared to sell its 64 per cent stake in the company, after the lower house of parliament adopted the minimum wage bill by an overwhelming majority of 84 per cent.

Springer said minimum wages made the cost of competing with Deutsche Post “too high”.

Pin said the company’s senior management led by Gunther Thiel, chief executive, was prepared to buy Springer’s stake and inject a high double-digit million euro figure into the business. Pin declined to comment on German press reports suggesting it had agreed to buy the stake for a symbolic EUR 1.

Springer this summer paid EUR 510m (EUR 735m) for a 48 per cent stake in Pin in anticipation of the German postal market’s full liberalisation on January 1 2008. It owns 64 per cent of Pin.

Pin, which employs more than 9,000 and pays staff between EUR 7.50 and EUR 8.20, said it would look at additional job cuts to the 1,000 announced two weeks ago.

A spokesman for Deutsche Post said the agreement “does not mark the end of competition in the German postal market. We still pay 80 per cent of our delivery staff an average hourly wage of EUR 16.63, significantly above the new minimum rate.”

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