Blog
The Role of BPOs in Building a Successful Cross-Border eCommerce Business
Cross-border eCommerce is the future of the retail industry. With advancements in technology and supply chain innovations, brands can now expand their customer base globally,…
How to Track Jewelry Inventory for eCommerce Fulfillment
A solid understanding of how to track jewelry inventory is a critical component to establishing a successful eCommerce operation for your jewelry and accessories product…
Warehouse Security to Package Delivery: Securing Your Jewelry eCommerce Operation
Continuing our series on the unique requirements for selling jewelry and accessories online, this blog looks at how to properly secure your jewelry eCommerce operation.…
Creative Ideas for Jewelry Packaging
With so many options for purchasing jewelry and accessories online, what factors drive a customer to choose your brand over another? And how do you…
Gen Z Shoppers Push Brands to Clean Up
The TikTok generation is also the sustainability generation, and these consumers are concerned about their future. Gen Z shoppers are more informed about what sustainability…
Treat Yourself: In Uncertain Times, Is There Still Room for a Little Luxury?
In times of financial struggle, is 'treat yourself' still relevant? Estee Lauder’s Leonard Lauder coined the term ‘The Lipstick Index’ In the early 2000s recession.…
Sustainability stand-off: Confusion on the journey toward more sustainable eCommerce operations
Baseline expectations for sustainable eCommerce practices are rapidly increasing, as concern for reducing carbon footprint grows amongst consumers. Our latest Conscious Commerce report, The Green…
Buy now, pay later… But at what cost to your business?
In the bid to appeal to more consumers, retailers are increasingly turning to buy now, pay later (BNPL) options to promote consumer loyalty amongst their…
PFS in 2022 – Another One for the Record Books
The PFS team has done it again. Breaking the record for the third year in a row, 2022 will go down for the most order…
‘Tis the Season for eCommerce Returns
Online shoppers have come to count on, not only free shipping, but free returns as well. Experts say retailers can expect, on average, about $158…
eCommerce Forecasting, The Impact of an Inaccurate Forecast
In part one of our forecasting series, we discussed some of the basics of forecasting within the eCommerce industry and the importance of accuracy. So,…
The Beauty of Sustainable Delivery Options
In eCommerce, Sustainable Delivery and Sustainable Beauty Should Go Hand in Hand The demand for sustainable beauty products and processes is increasing rapidly. Clean and…
Building Out Your Multi-Node Fulfillment Network
In this dynamic and uncertain market, brands face the challenge of figuring out how to get closer to customers. As consumer expectations evolve, creating a…
eCommerce Forecasting, Why Accuracy is Essential
In eCommerce forecasting, historical data is analyzed using business intelligence tools and forecasting methods to predict future market conditions and consumer purchasing patterns. By looking…
Front-End to Post-Click: Customer Experience Alignment Strategies
When you are happy with your brand’s digital customer experience, don’t let your fulfillment operations disappoint Is there anything worse, when you are anticipating a…
International eCommerce: Debunking Cross-border Myths
As brands seek to grow through international eCommerce expansion, there are common misconceptions that lead to over-simplification and over-complication of the cross-border strategy. We look…
Should you dispute chargebacks?
Disputing chargebacks is not a simple or straightforward task. Nor are you guaranteed to win a dispute after investing a fair amount of effort. With…
Omnichannel Fulfillment: Preparing for an Uncertain Peak Season
Give your brand the gift of an omnichannel fulfillment strategy this holiday peak season. An omnichannel approach is empowering brands to be more agile and…
What is the Difference Between a 3PL and 4PL provider?
Learn about 3PL vs 4PL and how to choose the best option for your brand As your brand grows, you may reach an inflection point…
Sportswear Peaks – Five Tips for Keeping Up with Demand
This summer has been full of exciting sporting events and, with that, increased demand amongst consumers for sportswear as they support their favorite personalities or…
The Cost of Living Crisis: How to Maintain Brand Loyalty
The cost of living crisis continues to skyrocket across the globe and in June we witnessed inflation increase even further, with the headline consumer price…
Creating Positive Experiences with Decentralized Fulfillment
As seen on Retail Merchandiser, PFS' Kamran Iqbal discusses the challenges brands and retailers are facing today and how a decentralized fulfillment approach can help…
Sustainable Packaging Trends – What Does the Conscious Consumer Want?
Current Sustainability Trends Influencing eCommerce With more focus than ever on the climate crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainability continues to be a hot topic.…
Security in the Remote Contact Center
PFS has seen great success since transitioning our contact center to a remote operation in 2020. We know what it takes to be successful in…
Luxury eCommerce – How BPOs can help
Luxury brands have been slow to embrace the digital realm, but with the great shift to online shopping brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, luxury…
Lessons from eCommerce start-ups on winning customer loyalty
From digitally native start-ups to one-person bands selling online, the personalized experience and ‘human touch’ start-ups prioritize are key components to their success online in…
Offset Inflation with an eCommerce BPO
By focusing on operational efficiencies and cost-savings strategies that help protect margins and maintain high standards of quality and service, eCommerce BPOs (business process outsourcers)…
Competitive advantage through brand ownership
As brands seek to stand out in an oversaturated online market, brand ownership has become key to capturing the competitive advantage. For independent retailers and…
What Can a BPO Offer Private Equity Firms?
Despite all of the disruption in the last two years, Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) firms continue to invest in companies and startups.…
How to stay one step ahead with “big data”
With over half (56%) of consumers most likely to purchase leisure or non-essential items online in 2022, the migration to online has moved far beyond…
Under One Roof: Fulfillment and Customer Service Functions
Fulfillment joins the dots between eCommerce retailers and brands to customers, with the aim of getting orders to their destinations quickly, preventing customer dissatisfaction– in…
Fulfillment Flexing: How To Get Closer To Your Customers
When analyzing fulfillment strategies, including omnichannel operations, the first questions retailers and brands need to ask themselves are: ‘Is my current fulfillment strategy meeting the…
How to reduce the impact of shortages in the retail sector
Whether it be the Collins, Merriam-Webster or Oxford Dictionaries, each year a range of publishers issue their “word of the year”, a word or expression…
Cost, convenience, or conscience: what brand behaviors will consumers reward in 2022?
Much like 2020, last year was also a testing time for retailers and brands. But unlike its predecessor, 2021 had the potential for brands to…
PFS 2021 Rewind
Fueled by organic growth and new client implementations, PFS’ 2021 was highlighted by continued elevated order fulfillment volumes and high execution for its clients. Following…
eCommerce Lessons – Was 2021 the Year the Tide Firmly Turned?
2021 was the year that the “perfect storm” hit retail – with fuel crises in the autumn, the effects of Brexit continuing to cause cross-border…
The Changing Face of Retail: Dark Stores
The face of retail has undoubtedly taken a turn in the last 18 months. As consumers skipped the checkout lines in lieu of sofa shopping,…
Where is my […]? – The importance of visibility in building brand trust
As the holiday season heads into its final weeks, it’s important for retailers and brands to reflect on how successful they have been in matching…
Turning the page: Why 2022 signals a new dawn for retailers
The last twelve months presented retailers with challenges more gruelling than we ever thought possible. Even now, the words ‘lockdown,’ ‘supply chain,’ and ‘shortages’ still…
Smart Brand Strategies For Supply Chain Crises
The supply chain slowdown and back-up came about because of a confluence of factors that all came together in a "perfect storm". COVID-19 stopped or…
Preparing for Retail Demands When Forecasting is Impossible
The only certainty in retail over the last few years has been uncertainty. Whether it’s the associated effects of Brexit or the pandemic, retail has…
Peak Promotions – is 2021 the Year Santa Gets the Sack?
Following a “perfect storm” of COVID-19, HGV and labour shortages, as well as ongoing Brexit supply chain disruption in general, retailers and brands are expected…
In-Store Uncertainty Leads to Innovative eCommerce Solutions
Omnichannel retail had its moment in 2020, a year that taught retailers the importance of a well-defined inventory strategy. However, even with the lessons learned…
The Rise of the “Micro-Influencer”
Social commerce has been one of the fastest growing retail trends – especially over the last year. Accelerated by the events of 2020, following a…
What’s it Going to Take to Make Sustainability Sustainable?
2020 drastically changed the consumer's shopping experience. More people had already started buying online for convenience and lower prices in previous years, but last year…
Past the parcel – Amazon vs. Independent BPO
The fulfillment process encompasses much more than simply shipping orders to customers. Warehouse management, overseeing inventory capabilities, building positive relationships with reliable carriers, customer service…
Personalized Packaging Is the ROI Driver Your Business Needs
You don’t have to be a toddler to love the box as much as what’s in it. The same can be said for businesses looking…
Unboxing Experience: How QR Codes are Accelerating Digital-First Retail
In recent years, unboxing videos have grown from an internet fad to a powerful eCommerce marketing tool. As a staple of YouTube and TikTok, unboxing…
Meeting Customer Service Expectations During the Busiest Season
Many retailers currently facing significant hurdles, including labor shortages, major supply chain delays and high consumer demand, may feel underprepared for inevitable spikes in activity…
Learning to ride the wave: how brands can keep up with unpredictable retail spikes
Throughout the summer season – to the excitement and rush of the pre-holiday peak - there are a number of retail events that can be…
A Flawless Fall: 6 keys to Peak Preparedness
Black Friday through Cyber Monday, 2020, was the first stress test of the capabilities retailers had put into place to address last year's anticipated crush…
Worth the Wait: Speed vs. Sustainability in Last-Mile Delivery
Slow delivery is fatal in eCommerce – at least that’s the received wisdom. However, industry researchers are increasingly finding that consumers are willing to forgo…
Is sustainability sustainable?
Sustainability has been a growing concern for many in recent years, but the toll of the pandemic has accelerated concerns from retailers and consumers alike.…
Outsourcing Omnichannel Operations: Identify the best BPO for your brand
Omnichannel retailers are already implementing plans to execute both in-store and online operations in advance of 2021's peak holiday shopping season. But many are discovering…