There are several differences between cross-border e-commerce logistics and domestic e-commerce logistics:
1. Differences in logistics environment
Cross-border e-commerce logistics is open to countries and regions around the world, while domestic e-commerce logistics is only carried out within the country. From the perspective of the environment, the environment of cross-border e-commerce logistics is more complex and has international characteristics. From the perspective of business documents, cross-border e-commerce logistics requires the preparation of customs declarations, documents of origin, product inspection and quarantine and other related documents, while domestic e-commerce logistics only requires an express delivery bill. From the perspective of the type of goods transported, cross-border e-commerce logistics has many restrictions on the types of goods. For example, liquids, powders and other commodities are more common in domestic e-commerce logistics transportation, but if such commodities want to be transported abroad, a series of certification and audit documents are required.
2. Complex business operations
Cross-border e-commerce logistics requires the use of English or other languages to prepare documents, supporting materials, etc., so the complexity of the business operation process is much higher than that of domestic logistics. The sorting of domestic e-commerce logistics is simpler than that of cross-border e-commerce logistics, and there is no need to consider the tariff issues caused by the value of products in cross-border e-commerce logistics. Because cross-border e-commerce logistics needs to serve different countries (regions), cross-border e-commerce logistics needs to have corresponding measures according to the policy requirements of different countries (regions). For example, goods exported to the United States need to be labeled “MADE IN CHINA” on the packaging.
3. Differences in main transportation methods
Domestic e-commerce logistics mainly uses trucks to complete the transportation of domestic goods, but cross-border e-commerce logistics requires the use of more than two modes of transportation such as sea transportation, air transportation, rail transportation, and road transportation. For example, a single order of goods shipped from China to the United States can be delivered to the United States by sea or air, and then delivered to the destination by truck. It is precisely because of the complexity and variability of cross-border e-commerce logistics transportation methods that the package loss rate of cross-border e-commerce logistics is very high, resulting in great economic losses.
4. Differences in information query and communication
Domestic consumers purchase goods online, usually using e-commerce self-built logistics or third-party logistics in cooperation with e-commerce. Therefore, after consumers purchase goods, they can query the logistics status in the logistics query background of the e-commerce platform or the official platform of the logistics company, or they can call to directly communicate the logistics situation. However, there are many obstacles when these methods are applied to cross-border e-commerce logistics. Cross-border e-commerce logistics information usually needs to wait two days after the goods are shipped before it can be queried, and the platform background cannot reflect accurate logistics information, and can only show a certain port where the goods arrive. Different platforms have different requirements for logistics providers, so not all cross-border e-commerce logistics products are applicable to every platform. For example, the Amazon platform has requirements for the certification of logistics providers, and not all logistics service providers can connect to Amazon’s background.