Two entrepreneurs are introducing an autonomous vehicle and electric cargo bike designed to reduce the costs arising from the last-mile delivery and returns of e-commerce merchandise in urban areas.

XPO Logistics Inc. will double its last-mile warehouses to capitalize on the rapid growth of e-commerce in North America, the company announced Sept. 12.

Global package shipping volume increased by 48% during the past two years, powered by growth in e-commerce, according to a report released last week by technology company Pitney Bowes.

Trailer makers Hyundai Translead and Strick Group are exploring options to provide equipment deliveries in the final mile as growth in e-commerce outpaces growth in retail sales overall, they said in separate announcements.

While the growth of e-commerce is widely viewed as a boon for last-mile deliveries, customer returns of the merchandise that’s delivered also are forcing change across carriers’ and shippers’ supply chains, industry experts said.

UPS Inc. is finally figuring out how to make money from the surge in online shopping.

An Amazon.com fulfillment center could bring more than 1,200 jobs to the long-ailing village of North Randall, Ohio. Across the country, the e-commerce giant is disrupting the traditional retail business and contributing to shopping malls’ struggles. In Northeast Ohio, though, Amazon is literally replacing them. The North Randall project, an 855,000-square-foot building, would occupy approximately 69 acres of the former Randall Park Mall site.

Nearly a dozen big-box distributors are shopping the Houston area for warehouse space larger than 500,000 square feet, NAI Partners said July 17 in its most recent industrial real estate market report.

Intermodal rail and trucking companies are competing to meet the transportation needs of e-commerce businesses while adapting to how these new supply chains differ from those of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.