Dive Brief:

• Target Corp. Wednesday said it has hired Benjamin Cook, former head of logistics and supply chain for Apple, to be its senior vice president, global logistics, inventory allocation and replenishment.

• Cook has also had key operational roles at Kimberly-Clark and The Home Depot.

• He will report to executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer, Arthur Valdez, who was hired in March from Amazon, which challenged that move in court. 

Dive Insight:

Target has clearly put its finger on the need to speed up and smooth out its logistics operations, and has turned to executives from some of the best in that area—Amazon and Apple.

During his time at Apple, Cook led the transformation of the company's logistics to support an omnichannel distribution model. At Target, Cook will look after the retailer's inbound and outbound supply chain, which includes last-mile delivery. 

“Our guests expect us to deliver product quickly and reliably, and that means we need a supply chain that’s increasingly fast and precise,” Valdez said in a statement. “Ben’s expertise and proven track record in cutting cost and reducing complexity in the name of speed will be an incredible asset to our team.”

E-commerce is a complex and expensive proposition when it comes to fulfillment, and Target’s moves to boost digital sales has left some shelves empty. The retailer ended its experiment with curbside pickup earlier this year, and, while it gave few details as to why, observers say it was likely too expensive and may have kept customers out of stores. 

Brick-and-mortar shoppers—pre-omnichannel, anyway—move products off the shelves and essentially fulfill their orders themselves. To ship a package, retailers must move goods onto shelves, off of shelves, into boxes and away, said Nick Egelanian, president of retail development consultants SiteWorks International.

“Selling on the internet is expensive... the handling and the postage—and you’re talking about basic goods here where the margins are wafer-thin,” Egelanian told Retail Dive earlier this year, adding "Amazon's not profitable" when it comes to e-commerce.

Still, Egelanian says, retailers these days have to be where the customer is—online, on mobile, and in stores—and the result of those efforts can’t be empty shelves.