Unboxing Logistics

Many small businesses want to incorporate sustainability initiatives into their operations but aren’t sure how to get started. Veena Harbaugh, director of sustainability at Sendle, reveals that sustainable shipping doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive—even for the smallest organizations. Finding innovative solutions With limited time and resources, how are small businesses supposed to compete...

International shipping is complex, but it opens the door to billions of new customers. Guy Gemmill, president and co-founder of APC Postal Logistics, joins Lori on this episode of Unboxing Logistics to explain how consolidators simplify cross-border shipping. Why use consolidated shipping? Guy explains that shipping consolidators “receive shipments from various merchants in the U.S. on a daily bas...

On this episode of Unboxing Logistics, Jeff Goeters and Jeff Skaistis unveil a new EasyPost platform for high-volume shippers: EasyPost Enterprise. “When out-of-the-box won’t do, that’s what we do,” says Goeters. Skaistis adds, “EasyPost Enterprise is a shipping platform that grows with you over time.”  Challenges enterprise shippers face Enterprise businesses have to run a tight ship when it...

“You're never too small to ship or get great rates. You're not.” Kelli Martin is the digital marketing advisor at FedEx, but she likes to refer to herself as a small business champion. This week, she joins us on Unboxing Logistics to share advice for small businesses and highlight some of the resources FedEx provides to help them succeed.  Small business challenges and trends The current econ...

Jicara Gorski, principal product manager at EasyPost, explains how companies can achieve a net zero carbon footprint through carbon offsets.  EasyPost announces carbon neutral shipping In this special episode of Unboxing Logistics, Lori and Jicara discuss a major announcement from EasyPost: Starting on November 1, 2023, every shipment that comes through EasyPost will be carbon neutral, at no...

In case you haven’t heard, October is cybersecurity awareness month! This episode of Unboxing Logistics focuses on the importance of cybersecurity in the ecommerce space. What are the risks? What responsibilities do businesses have to protect consumer privacy? Iskander Sanchez-Rola, director of privacy innovation at Gen, joins Lori to answer these questions and more. Web tracking—good or bad? Web...

For the first time in years, it’s a shipper’s market. Tyler Diestel, senior product manager at EasyPost, explains how ecommerce stores can take advantage of the lower rates.  Carrier’s Market vs. Shipper’s Market What’s the difference between a carrier’s market and a shipper’s market?  Tyler explains that a carrier’s market is created when “there's a lot of shippers … and not enough carr...

It sometimes seems like the right technology can solve every problem. But when it comes to relationship building, software can only go so far. In this episode, Jill Barron, practice lead for supply chain operations and strategy at Summit Advisory Team, shares her approach to building and maintaining great relationships with suppliers.  Why be intentional with supplier relationships? Jill expl...

Tom Butt, chief customer success officer at Summit Advisory Team and Elevate, was first featured on the second episode of Unboxing Logistics , where he and Lori talked all things peak season. Now, Tom is back to explain how merchants can improve profit margins by decreasing their cost to serve.  Four costs businesses can control  Cost to serve (CTS) encompasses four main costs: cost of g...

When your behind-the-scenes supply chain processes run smoothly, the front-end customer experience improves. In this episode of Unboxing Logistics, Matt Boland (senior director at Körber Supply Chain) and Jill Barron (practice lead at Summit Advisory team) explain how you can leverage the supply chain to give your customers a better buying journey. Inventory management: a crucial piece of pre-purc...

Ecommerce brands want customers to trust them—and they don’t hesitate to explain why their brand is credible. But when does a promise become more than just words on a screen? This week, Eric Thorson joins guest host Jason Eisenberg to talk about the power of third-party shopping guarantees. Here are a few highlights from the show:  Customer anxiety and experience Online shopping can be risky,...

On this episode of Unboxing Logistics, Adam McCoy and Lori Boyer sit down to talk 3PLs: what they are, when to start working with one (or more), and how to manage successful partnerships. As it turns out, choosing the right 3PL is a little like dating. There are lots of options out there, and you don’t want to make the wrong choice. While Adam doesn’t give any dating advice during this episode, he...

When it comes to choosing a carrier, many ecommerce businesses stick with one of the big names: USPS, FedEx, UPS, or DHL. But could there be a better way? In this episode of Unboxing Logistics, Lori sits down with Chris Grey and Ed Burek from SmartKargo to talk about the benefits of exploring alternative shipping options. The rising popularity of alternative carriers Ed explains that between 2021...

This week’s guest on Unboxing Logistics is Tom Butt, chief customer success officer at Summit Advisory Team and Elevate.  In addition to being an expert in the shipping and logistics industry, Tom is an avid home chef. He compares peak season preparations to the cooking term “mise en place,” the process of organizing and arranging ingredients before preparing a meal. If ecommerce businesses p...

In the first-ever episode of Unboxing Logistics, Lori Boyer and James Sutton, chief analytics officer at Elevate / Summit Advisory Team, discuss the role AI plays in the shipping and logistics industry.  The recent popularity of AI  The rise of ChatGPT has catapulted artificial intelligence into the spotlight. But, as James points out, AI has been driving some of the most popular softwar...

Stay in the loop with the latest trends in the world of shipping and logistics. Unboxing Logistics launches on July 31, 2023—make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!