Characteristics of cross-border logistics and its importance in e-commerce
1. Overview of cross-border logistics
According to the national standard “Logistics Terminology” (GB/T 18354–2006), logistics is defined as “the physical flow process of items from the supply place to the receiving place”. According to actual needs, transportation, storage, loading and unloading, handling , packaging, flow processing, distribution, recycling, information processing and other basic functions are implemented organically. Cross-border logistics is a commodity logistics activity carried out between different countries or regions. It not only involves conventional logistics functions such as transportation and storage, but also includes customs and commodity inspection in the exporting country (region), customs and commodity inspection in the importing country (region), etc.
2. Characteristics of cross-border logistics
1. Long distance and high cost
Cross-border logistics has long distances, long time, and high costs. Compared with domestic freight, it also involves related issues such as customs clearance in the destination country. Problems such as lost goods, damaged packaging, delayed package delivery, etc. may occur during transportation.
2. The procedure is complex
Cross-border logistics not only involves the transportation, sorting, distribution and other aspects of goods, but also needs to handle matters such as import and export customs and commodity inspection, which increases the complexity and uncertainty of logistics.
3. Diversified logistics forms
Since cross-border logistics involves multiple links, there are many forms at all levels, such as sea transportation, land transportation, air transportation, dedicated lines, etc. Choosing the right logistics service provider is crucial to ensuring transparency of logistics information.
4. Regional competition characteristics
Cross-border logistics competition is particularly fierce in southeastern coastal cities, while competition in the central and western regions is less due to low transportation demand and high costs. In addition, competition within a range or within a single industry is fierce, while cross-region and cross-industry competition is less intense.
5. Single service and homogeneous competition
Most cross-border logistics companies can only provide a single logistics service, such as sea transportation or air transportation, and there are fewer companies that can provide multimodal transportation (such as sea and air combined transportation), resulting in serious homogeneous competition.
3. The importance of cross-border logistics management
Cross-border e-commerce logistics management aims to achieve the best coordination and cooperation of various logistics activities through planning, organization, command, coordination, control and supervision, so as to reduce logistics costs, improve logistics efficiency and economic benefits. . The goal of logistics management is to achieve a given level of customer service at the lowest possible total cost.
4. Challenges in cross-border logistics
1. Customs clearance issues
Different countries and regions have different customs regulations, and customs clearance may be an important obstacle in cross-border logistics.
2. Long transportation time
The transportation time of cross-border logistics is longer, which is a significant difference compared with domestic logistics.
3. High cost
The cost of cross-border logistics is relatively high, partly due to differences in logistics infrastructure and quality.
4. Damage or loss of goods
Goods may be damaged or lost during transportation, which is a common problem in cross-border logistics.
5. Customer Service Issues
Cross-border logistics involves customers from multiple countries and regions, so customer service problems are also common.
6. Exchange rate fluctuations
Cross-border logistics often involves currency exchange, and exchange rate fluctuations may increase transportation costs.
7. Uncertain factors
The cross-border logistics process may be affected by uncertain factors such as weather and traffic conditions.
8. Logistics information is not transparent
Cross-border logistics information may not be transparent enough, making it difficult to track the transportation status of goods in real time.
Conclusion
To sum up, cross-border logistics is an indispensable part of cross-border e-commerce. Its characteristics include long-distance transportation, high costs, and complex procedures. In order to cope with these challenges, cross-border logistics companies need to continuously improve service quality, optimize logistics solutions, and strengthen the application of information technology to adapt to changing market demands.