Though not as discussed as e-commerce businesses, e-commerce logistics is one of the critical aspects of every online business. In an era when quick delivery of good and services is the basic requirement to gain customer loyalty, it is critical that the logistics part be given paramount importance in strategy building and business planning.
Benefits of technology in logistics
Logistics is an area which has gained a lot of traction in recent times, not just in the e-commerce industry but other business verticals as well. Often seen as a conservative area of business, technology has played a defining role in changing the way goods, and services are being delivered. Technology has not only made the system efficient but has also added the element of transparency in the form of real-time tracking. For instance, there are organizations which have adopted the technology of control tower to gain information on the status of the supply chain. Based on the inputs from the control tower, issues like delay in delivery of goods, lack of availability of the raw materials, and the time-gap between producing the finished products and taking it to the customers can be easily addressed.
How is innovation in logistics influencing the e-commerce business?
The use of technology alone is not enough to sustain logistics; innovative solutions go a long way in helping e-commerce businesses gain an edge in the market. One of the latest examples of innovation in logistics is the ‘hub’ by Amazon. In a bid to bring down the turn-around time between order and delivery, Amazon has come up with the concept of delivery centers for residential areas.
The hub is more about parcel delivery lockers, where orders from any service provider can be delivered. The essential point of the Hub is that customers can pick their packages on their own schedule, that too near their own premises. This way, the new locker system is clearly an improvement over Amazon’s public package locker systems and the parcel delivery lockers at the retail stores. The move is a testimony of Amazon’s ambitious goal of revolutionizing the coordination and delivery chain space.
Automated warehouses, automated trucks, drones, and Internet of Things (IoT), are the other technological innovations which major names in the e-commerce business are betting on to stand out of the competition.
