| The Federal Trade Commission’s has settled with seven online retailers who had trouble shipping goods as promised during last year’s holiday season. This could be just the opportunity needed by providers of outsourced fulfillment services.
With the FTC having levied fines as high as $300,000 and ordered refinement of the companies’ fulfillment systems, an already fast-growing segment could grow even faster.
“Fulfillment has been the Achilles heel for online retailers,” said David Schatsky, a Jupiter Communications analyst. “The settlement] layers another incentive for online retailers to get things right.”
Schatsky said the opportunity created by the FTC action is especiallygreat for fulfillment outsourcers who are in the transition from bricks-and-mortar markets into the new economy. | 