The rapid development of e-commerce will force changes in the logistics sector

The Polish e-commerce market during the pandemic is developing at a very dynamic pace. The report “E-commerce B2B – Business on the Internet” prepared for Santander Bank Polska by Mobile Institute shows that during the pandemic, the value of B2B e-commerce increased by 30%, and the forecasts for 2021 say that it will increase by up to 40%. Such a rapid development of e-commerce will also force changes in the logistics sector.

„Delivery of goods ordered online is an increasingly important component of the entire purchasing process. In addition to the price or availability of goods, the speed of delivery and its timeliness is the most important factors for entrepreneurs placing orders online. In the coming years, the growing expectations of B2B and B2C customers towards the e-commerce sector means that the logistics industry will need to invest in digitization, improving processes and system.”- explains Małgorzata Nesterowicz, Director of Services Secor and Family Business at Santander Bank Polska.

The positive assessment of e-commerce is largely influenced by Logistics. Approximately half of the surveyed B2B sellers consider the speed of delivery (54%) and delivery in time (50%) to be the most important for their customers.

Therefore, among the functionalities in the area of ​​delivery and logistics, B2B e-sellers most often offer their customers order’s status tracking (59% of them). The second most popular option is the ability to change the delivery address – 40% of B2B e-sellers offer it. Every third surveyed enterprise offers the option of shipping directly from the manufacturer (so-called dropshipping), and every fifth – express delivery.

The number of functionalities offered by e-sellers varies depending on the enterprise`s time of operation in ​​B2B e-commerce sector and its experience. The enterprises that have been operating in e-commerce for longer time – over 5 years, have the biggest number of implemented functionalities in ​​logistics. Delivery tracking is offered to its recipients by 84% of them in this segment, and the possibility of changing the delivery address – by 54%. It is also worth noting that enterprises that perceive the implementation of e-commerce as a success offer much more functionalities than other entities.

How e-commerce will change the logistics sector?

Due to the development of B2B e-commerce, delivery time is more and more important in the area of ​​transport and logistics. Nearly every third enterprise (29%) when asked about trends in B2B e-commerce indicates an increase in its importance. There is still a mismatch in this aspect between the seller’s offer and customer requirements. Only every fifth seller offers express delivery, and at the same time, as many as 58% of online buyers in the B2B segment consider this feature to be one of the most useful. Due to the increasing expectations of customers regarding the speed of the logistics processes, a change in the approach and a clear trend of automation of logistics processes is visible, especially in newly emerging modern logistics centers dedicated to e-commerce services.

Another trend is the personalization of the offer. B2B e-commerce is characterized by large orders, usually repetitive, but at the same time requiring personalization. Even now, among the analyzed sectors in transport and logistics, the deepest personalization of the offer can be observed. 43% of the surveyed transport and logistics enterprises indicate that they personalize services to the level of a single enterprise, and another 14% – to the level of specific departments in the client’s enterprise. Such personalization requires system integration – already 28% of logistics service providers cooperate with clients based on EDI (electronic data exchange).

Personalization of services, and at the same time the need to ensure an efficient process of transport services, forces an increasing level of digitization of logistics enterprises. In the coming years also the increasing importance of ecological aspects is to be expected. Currently, only 13% of B2B e-commerce sellers offer green delivery options to their customers. Ecology is much more important in the B2C segment, whereas many as 76% of buyers pay attention to it during deliveries. Considering the overlapping of trends between the B2B and B2C e-commerce markets, ecological aspects will be gaining in importance for business customers, to which the offer of transport and logistics enterprises will have to adapt.

Source: Bank’s press release from August 13, 2021