How Logistics - Not Technology - Controls the Future of Ecommerce
The concept of large companies needing to have more control over their supply chain isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. The leaders of the American industrial revolution such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller realized the need to control logistics over a century ago.
Today, in the age of e-commerce there’s a great deal of commentary about a “new industrial revolution” created by the rise of internet-enabled businesses such as those of Amazon, AliBaba and Uber. Business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Jack Ma are the visionaries of the moment, and now we find that they too are focusing their attention on logistics & supply chain.
That means it’s not enough to provide the consumer with a superior ordering experience. You’ve also got to actually deliver the products in a way that is consistent with consumer expectations and your brand promise. All the innovations in retail mean very little if a customer can’t get their goods in a timely, reliable manner.
So really, no matter what business you’re in -- you’re also in the logistics business -- even if you’ve outsourced your fulfillment to someone else down the supply chain. And just as consumer-facing businesses have embraced e-commerce, the way to win in logistics is to likewise embrace digital solutions.
The answer is simple: Put digital fulfillment and logistics solutions at the heart of your own business model.
If you’re in the logistics industry, you might be buying and selling something like freight capacity (that’s what we help you do at CoLoadX). To do this, you need to ask the same question Amazon and AliBaba ask:
“How do we make it easier for customers to buy the services we sell?”
Amazon has made it so simple to buy from them that we’re now beginning to wonder if it’s even worthwhile to go to stores. AliBaba takes things even one step further and makes it easy to buy directly from manufacturers in China, in bulk, no less. You can read more about AliBaba’s deal with container ship operator Maersk here.
Where does logistics fit into all of this? Delivery.
Lucky for you, this is exactly what logistics companies excel at and that matters a lot. Solving the complexities of international logistics is the hard part. Now it’s time to make it easier for customers to tap your expertise.
To learn more about how CoLoadX is helping freight forwarders understand and take advantage of the benefits of e-commerce, read more on our blog here.
By: CoLoadX on May 3, 2017, 11:23 a.m.