More consumers are doing their holiday shopping online this year, which means fewer trips to the store and more packages piled on their doorstep through the month of December. It's a trend many Americans have become familiar with this year, as people avoided shops in an effort to avoid catching COVID-19.
Amid persistent shipping delays and higher expectations from consumers used to delivery standards set by e-commerce giants such as Amazon, many companies have chosen the reliability of a simple cardboard box or plastic bag.
This year's spike in deliveries has contributed to a surge in demand for cardboard — a reality that many in the logistics and shipping industry did not expect for 2020.
'Survive and advance'
"We thought 2020 was going to be a big move toward sustainability," said Chris Shaw, retail expert and senior director of product marketing for Manhattan Associates, which provides supply chain solutions to retailers.
The massive e-commerce demand brought on by coronavirus scrambled this prediction, however. Shaw explained that much of the industry was preparing in 2019 to rein in cardboard use and come up with more sustainable delivery and packaging solutions, including reusable and biodegradable options. Then COVID put the retail industry into survival mode.
"I think 2020 turned into a survive and advance type of year, so frankly we haven't seen as much on the sustainability side of things," he added.
Going forward, he said the hope is that sustainability goals will eventually line up with cost-savings and convenience, but for now the sector is just trying to keep up with demand.
Bags to Boxes
This holiday season could create more demand for reusable packages, not necessarily for sustainability or waste reduction, but rather another elusive goal for online retailers: easy product returns.
"If you're anything like me, if you receive apparel, you probably get it in a poly bag and you're kind of like the Incredible Hulk and just rip it open," Krish Iyer, head of industry relations for ShipStation, a shipping software company for major retailers, told Cheddar. "But we're seeing more and more retailers that may say, 'You know what? I'm going to pay a little bit more for the box because someone is going to initiate a return from home.'"
As a result, he said, more products are coming in sturdier boxes that can easily be affixed with a print-from-home shipping label or QR code as opposed to a poly bag.
Another trend driving the move away from single-use packages are subscription box offerings, which often include multiple items of different shapes and sizes, such as health and beauty products mixed in with apparel or snack boxes containing a hodge-podge of different foods.
"Packaging that is optimized for multiple legs is a huge trend that won't go away," Iyer said.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
At the core of the ongoing government shutdown is a fight over the decision to end subsidies that let some 12 million Americans get health coverage.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
