Booming Trends Across E-commerce Logistics Sector In 2018

E-commerce Logistics to Witness Promising Growth, with Permeation of Technologies and Innovative Efforts of Leading Players

E-commerce has transformed the way supply chain and logistic operations are carried out. Emergence of digital commerce has led to complexity and risks more than supply chain and logistics professionals have ever tackled. Recent advancements in processes, technology and software are supporting manufacturing and retail professionals in exceeding customer expectations in direct to customer as well as B2B operations.

As the ecommerce landscape evolves, online retailers are presented with innovative and new methods of trading online. Online stores continue to play a pivotal role in the development of the entire industry. With more entrepreneurs seeking opportunities to leverage online store platforms, these platforms are developing new tools for facilitating ecommerce for store owners.

Mobile-friendly approach for expanding the online platforms has been imperative in recent years, with the proliferation in smartphones and online shopping in light of their convenience. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have also witnessed significant penetration in the ecommerce stores, which are using these technologies for productivity and profit-based outcomes. Ecommerce continues to eat into shares of the traditional business practices, and companies that serve retail, industrial, and manufacturing customers are including new services in their portfolios.

Ecommerce Logistics to Witness Cultivation of a New Landscape

As ecommerce continuously makes inroads across different industrial sectors, numerous business models are witnessing disruptions, including those most palpable for shopping online. Ecommerce shipments currently account for majority share of overall shipments of manufacturers collectively across domains. The distinction between retail and manufacturing is getting hazy, with more manufacturers becoming drop-ship suppliers, supporting B2C distribution models.

Directly selling their products to consumers has become a key agenda of the manufacturers. This has significantly supported developments in the ecommerce logistics. Additionally, consumer-like purchasing behavior of several manufacturing and industrial customers has been providing an impetus to advancements in the ecommerce logistics.

As ecommerce continuous the accelerate the pace at which order volumes escalate and decline throughout the supply chain, several business buyers are noticing a see-saw behavior in consumer spending. Miniscule changes at consumer level poses a significant momentum, posing a notable impact on companies further from end-consumers. A key challenge faced by manufacturers is the rising pushback from retailers, who are struggling in managing consumer expectations. Retailer expectations from manufacturers are focused toward adjusting inventory placement models for better accommodating the consumer demand related to instant order deliveries.

Future Shines Bright for Ecommerce Logistics Market

Technology that offers inventory visibility, and drives proactive management has become a critical requirement for both direct-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions. Changes implied by ecommerce are associated with no signs of abating, with the emergence of practical blockchain technology applications. This is increasingly palpable in small parcel shipments, provided with current absence of relevant standards.

Several ecommerce parcel delivering companies have been sponsoring the blockchain pilots for executing smart contracts, with blockchain essentially being the ledger. The blockchain technology is particularly valuable for pharmaceutical manufacturers, and alcohol producers among others, who are required to maintain a series of custody. Ecommerce logistics is also expected to witness the benefits of drop in brick-and-mortar stores while online shopping and fulfillment continues to surge exponentially.

Despite robust growth of the online retail, entrepreneurs in the space continue to witness intricate challenges. Several ecommerce companies are facing challenges related to attracting investors for expanding their infrastructure in order to serve larger customer base. Challenges are entailed in the implementation of online retailing-related logistics for ecommerce companies. Huge investment along with efforts are required for an elaborate system and infrastructure for ecommerce logistics.

Timely delivery of goods to customers continues to remain a key challenge for virtual stores, and although online stores leverage courier companies for product deliveries, specialist companies have gained ground in recent years with their lucrative offerings for handling product delivery as well as logistics for ecommerce. Preference for such specialist logistics providers alludes increased benefits for ecommerce platforms in terms of cash on delivery offerings, as well as product returns from customers.

Logistics has been deemed as a potential differentiator and crucial enabler for ecommerce players for creating unique experiences to attract and retain customer loyalty. Requirements of logistics in the ecommerce industry witnesses constant changes in line with evolving business environment. For building a responsive and robust ecosystem for ecommerce logistics, the logistics space is compelled to deal with key challenges such as hunting talent across levels, government regulations and policies, technology and physical infrastructure, seasonal and high volume handling, and cash-on-delivery offerings.

As reliability and speed remain critical aspects for the ecommerce logistics companies for delivering consistent customer experience, innovative agile solutions in logistics are being introduced. Burgeoning expansion of the ecommerce has entailed a definite requirement for quality logistics to fulfil orders with reliability. Ecommerce and logistics players are focusing on capturing opportunities through expansion across geographies.

Arslan Khan is currently living in Delhi, working as a Senior Research Manager @ Fact.MR. He is a blogger with unique content each time.