Chris Mennona

It’s a supply chain summer! Check out all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now. On Monday, we released 3 new episodes! On this episode of Supply Chain Now, Ratelinx’s Nate Endicott, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Alliances, and Andrew Hooser, Vice President of Customer Solutions, discuss their company’s journey with Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton. On This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton picks up on the story of 3 legendary pioneers: Marie Curie, Alan Turing and Ed Bradley. On Supply Chain Now en Espanol, host Enrique Alvarez welcomes special guest Demos Perez to the podcast to get an update on supply chain and logistics in Panama and the rest of Latin America. On Tuesday, Mike Griswold, Vice President of Research at Gartner, joined our hosts Scott Luton and Greg White on the Supply Chain Now podcast to talk about the latest in retail supply chains from an analyst’s perspective. On Wednesday, Gifts for Good’s Chief Impact Officer Jenise Steverding joined our Logistics with Purpose podcast to share how she melded a knack for logistics with a propensity for giving back with hosts Enrique Alvarez and…

Customers blame retailers less when the delay notification comes from someone else   When something goes wrong, most companies reach for the same playbook: communicate early, communicate often, and keep customers informed. It is difficult to argue with that logic. Customers hate surprises, and transparency has become a cornerstone of good service. Whether the issue is a delayed shipment, a production disruption, or a missed commitment, managers generally assume that more communication demonstrates accountability and builds trust. New research published in the Journal of Business Logistics suggests the real lesson is narrower and more useful than “communicate more.” The study shows that communication does more than transfer information. It also shapes how customers assign responsibility. The volume of communication was not what mattered. The identity of the messenger was. Researchers presented consumers with identical delivery delays following an online purchase. In the study, the same standard emails were sent to every participant: an order confirmation, a shipment notice, and a delivery confirmation. What varied was only how customers learned about the delay itself. Some received a delay notification from the retailer, some from the carrier, and others discovered the delay on their own through package tracking. The delivery outcome was…