Walmart tightens grip on the first mile – suppliers’ optionality is the price

In a nutshell: Bentonville’s new ‘Prepaid Consolidation’ program, announced earlier this year, promised lower costs and simpler shipping. The trade-off now is that once you’re inside Walmart’s network, you may never leave it. For most of the past two decades, Walmart’s relationship with its prepaid suppliers rested on a simple bargain: you arrange the truck, you pick the carrier, you get the freig Read full article →