By Jennifer Chang.     Photo : Negative Space

The evolution of logistics to the supply chain and value chain is accelerated, transportation services penetrate into the production and sales links,and the whole-process supply chain service model is rapidly emerging.

We  discussed   "cross-border online shopping" last week,  This week , we will talk about  "cross-border e-commerce logistics". The so-called logistics is the flow of goods. Since human civilization, the transportation and flow of goods has always been a demand. However, with the development of business and the advancement of time, logistics has also evolved from the exchange of goods in neighboring villages to the current global flow of goods across countries, borders, and time zones. The development of commerce, along with the development and breakthrough of the logistics industry and the popularization of the Internet, have created a business model of cross-border e-commerce. However, in order to be successful in cross-border e-commerce, the "three streams" (information flow, financial flow, and logistics) of cross-border e-commerce are important factors for the success of cross-border e-commerce, and "logistics" is the most important. In the field of cross-border trade, e-commerce channels are replacing the traditional multi-level distribution system, and the penetration rate of e-commerce is getting higher and higher.

Cross-border e-commerce includes B2B and B2C. Through the e-commerce platform, sellers directly contact overseas consumers, which is B2C. This is helpful for sellers to quickly grasp the changes in consumption trends, but the fragmented and high-frequency orders of consumers require a set of industrial chain processes that are different from traditional foreign trade. Therefore, logistics providers provide merchants with point-to-point diversified supply chain solutions. Cross-border e-commerce logistics includes value-added services such as transportation (international express, air or sea) and warehousing provided by logistics companies for cross-border e-commerce. For the sake of timeliness, merchants on e-commerce platforms often send goods to the destination country in advance, and temporarily store the goods in their own or third-party warehouses where the target market is located. Once a customer places an order, the product is shipped from overseas warehouses to the buyer's logistics service, which can be done through the postal  or general logistics providers. Fast delivery to consumers to avoid missing business opportunities. In addition, there are thousands of consumers. Even if the product is perfect, it is inevitable that customers will always encounter the situation of returning and replacing the product, or because of various factors, it is necessary to temporarily withdraw the product from the market. The above two situations will require the use of reverse logistics. However, for cross-border e-commerce sellers, products are often stored in warehouses in European and American countries. It is not cost-effective to ship them back for processing. Therefore, many sellers will also choose local destruction, repackage and then put on the shelves, or sell at a low price to deal with the return. Therefore, the demand for overseas warehouses is getting higher and higher, and the requirements for reducing costs and increasing efficiency are also higher and higher.

Even before COVID-19  , the growth of import and export volume achieved by cross-border e-commerce channels has exceeded the growth rate of overall trade. 

Now , it  has accelerated the process of transferring offline sales to online. The outbreak is still affecting the performance of the world's major economies and changing the shopping habits of consumers. Even if the pandemic  is over one day, people's online shopping habits will be fixed. This will permanently change trade and drive the demand for cross-border e-commerce logistics.

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