The Changing Landscape Of Logistics In E-commerce Era
The Stat Trade Times|October 2017

The global flow of goods and services is taking place and is becoming a multi-trillion dollar opportunity. The air express industry is enjoying the benefits of this opportunity. Placing the consumer who is the king in middle of all that the industry is doing, the industry is moving from B2B focus to addressing b2C-related requirements. The carriers and other stakeholders in the express industry continue to see surge in the e-commerce shipments handled, unmoved by foray of e-tailers such as Amazon into logistics space.

Shreya Bhattacharya & Twinkle Sahita
The Changing Landscape Of Logistics In E-commerce Era

The air logistics industry has largely seen two eras: pr(e)-commerce era and post e-commerce era.In the pr(e)-commerce era, logistics was all about transporting goods from one place to another with no transparency or product tracking option provided to the shippers or the consumers. Suppliers passed on the raw material to the manufacturers who then distributed finished goods to consumers via distributors or retailers.

Contrary to the conventional supply chain, post e-commerce era has brought unprecedented zeal in the sector. Consequently, the business landscape of the entire parcel and air express industry shifted gear from a pure Business-to-business (B2B) focus to also including Business-to-consumer (B2C)-related requirements. In this highly competitive industry, effective and efficient logistics are critical success factors. E-commerce players can succeed only when they are customer-centric, fast and transparent; this has resulted in parcel traceability and speed becoming the new standards in e-commerce logistics.

Supply chain giant UPS says it has passionately adopted technology to smoothen its supply chain as they become more customer-centric.

“Supply chains certainly are becoming more customer-centric, and UPS is meeting that challenge with $2 billion in capital investment so far in 2017 to increase capacity and enhance operational technologies. From an air cargo standpoint, we are seeing an increase in volume from freight forwarders, who have the expertise to assist e-commerce shippers navigate the often complex rules for international shipping. Air cargo enables e-commerce shipping across borders at reduced cost through consolidation of multiple shipments,” said Jim Mayer, Public Relations manager, UPS Airlines.

This story is from the October 2017 edition of The Stat Trade Times.

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This story is from the October 2017 edition of The Stat Trade Times.

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