Bringoz Industry Weekly 4/1

he industrial real estate market will likely see low vacancies and high rents for at least another two years. Dollar General aims to more than double its private fleet size by the end of 2022. Convenience giant BP is teaming with Uber Technologies on a new global strategic convenience delivery partnership. Read about theses stories and more in our weekly news roundup.

The industrial real estate market will likely see low vacancies and high rents for at least another two years, according to a report from commercial real estate services firm JLL Inc. On the demand side, companies are taking on larger inventory positions to avoid future supply shocks and stockouts, which have been prevalent throughout the pandemic. Further, eCommerce platforms require incremental inventories positioned closer to the end consumer in order to meet tight delivery schedules. The other part of the equation, supply, remains constrained as new facility developments have been delayed by materials and labor shortages. Read more on FreightWaves.

Online shopping growth and increased delivery demand has prompted retailers and other businesses to use new technologies to help them capture a bigger share of eCommerce growth and enhance their delivery services. Delivery management solutions provide retailers with many tools to streamline their delivery operations, lower operational costs, and improve the delivery experience. One important tool companies now have at their disposal is real-time tracking. Here’s a look at three ways real-time tracking can help companies improve delivery performance. Read more in our blog here.

Dollar General aims to more than double its private fleet size by the end of 2022 to drive greater operational control and cost savings, COO Jeff Owen said in a March earnings call. The retailer’s in-house fleet consisted of more than 700 tractors as of last year, Owen said. By the end of 2022, the private fleet is expected to account for about 40% of its outbound transportation, up from 20% at the end of 2021. “Importantly, we save an average of 20% of associated costs every time we replace a third-party tractor with one from our private fleet,” Owen said. Read more on Transport Dive.

Following a successful six-month test of the program, BJ’s Wholesale Club has launched the chainwide rollout of Same-Day Select — a membership add-on to its Same-Day Delivery service that helps customers save both time and money. The Same-Day Select service is an upgrade option for BJ’s members, allowing them to pay a one-time fee upfront for either unlimited or a set number of same-day grocery deliveries, received in as little as two hours. All grocery items, including fresh foods and everyday household essentials, are available for delivery. Read more on Progressive Grocer.

Convenience giant BP is teaming with Uber Technologies on a new global strategic convenience delivery partnership, extending their existing local arrangements to reach more consumers across the world, the companies announced Tuesday. Together, BP and Uber Eats will offer an extensive range of quality convenience products, including fresh and prepared foods, from select retail locations in parts of the United States and globally. BP is the first convenience retailer to team up with Uber Eats on a global level and aims to have more than 3,000 retail locations available on the delivery platform over the next three years. Read more on Supermarket News.

PayPal is expanding access to the returns service it acquired last year, Happy Returns, by making it available to PayPal Checkout merchants at no extra cost. The payments company said on Monday that merchants would now be able to use the Happy Returns return and exchange portal software free of charge, and it has additionally partnered with Ulta Beauty to roll out Return Bars to more than 1,300 Ulta locations across the U.S. This is the first major effort PayPal has made with Happy Returns since its 2021 acquisition of the software and logistics service. Since then, the number of Return Bar locations has almost doubled, from 2,600 at the time of the deal to now more than 5,000, with the inclusion of Ulta Beauty. Read more on TechCrunch.