Cross-border e-commerce logistics is an integration, upgrading and transformation of traditional international (inter-regional) logistics with the vigorous development of cross-border e-commerce. It has developed rapidly, and its main development directions are business networking, freight productization, service standardization, warehousing automation, process digitization, process visualization and delivery traceability.
I. Development History of Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Industry
From 2003 to 2008, some overseas Chinese and Chinese with overseas study backgrounds engaged in cross-border e-commerce, mainly through postal delivery, and some large sellers also engaged in logistics, but there were relatively few traditional international (inter-regional) logistics companies that transformed into cross-border logistics e-commerce.
From 2009 to 2013, some keen international freight forwarders began to integrate into the cross-border logistics industry, and air transport, rail transport, dedicated lines, and overseas warehouses rose rapidly, providing more possibilities for cross-border e-commerce.
From 2014 to date, the timeliness of logistics has been further improved, and platforms, sellers, and overseas Chinese have also joined in one after another. FBA (fulfillment by Amazon, Amazon Logistics) services, bonded warehouses, virtual overseas warehouses, return and repair services and other businesses have developed rapidly.
2. Current status of the development of cross-border e-commerce logistics industry
The continuous penetration of the Internet into various fields and the deepening of economic globalization have made cross-border e-commerce provide unlimited possibilities for the development of global enterprises. The scale of my country’s cross-border e-commerce market is very large, and it has maintained rapid growth in recent years. The demand for cross-border e-commerce logistics has also ushered in an explosive growth period, which has posed a huge challenge to the global distribution capabilities of existing logistics companies.
For fragmented orders, logistics products have become increasingly diversified, time efficiency has improved rapidly, direct mail and overseas warehouse services have continued to improve, but there is still room for improvement in price and customer experience. More and more traditional logistics companies are transforming and upgrading to cross-border e-commerce logistics. While improving the professionalism of logistics, they still need to tailor cross-border e-commerce logistics products according to the characteristics of cross-border e-commerce. At present, as customs supervision in various countries (regions) is becoming stricter, how to make cross-border e-commerce more compliant and delivery more convenient through their own services is an important issue facing cross-border e-commerce logistics.
3. Development trend of cross-border e-commerce logistics industry
The rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce industry will greatly increase the demand for cross-border logistics, bring strong growth to the development of cross-border logistics industry, and also put forward higher requirements and challenges for cross-border logistics, such as safer customs clearance and higher time efficiency. The advantages of postal channels are weakening, the share of overseas warehouses is increasing, the role of bonded warehouses is obvious, and the logistics problems of emerging countries (regions) are prominent. The cross-border e-commerce logistics industry is facing a reshuffle. Cross-border e-commerce logistics will show a trend of compliance and customization. Those logistics companies that do not meet the compliance requirements of cross-border e-commerce and cannot meet the needs of cross-border e-commerce companies and sellers will be eliminated. Those who can survive for a long time will be those that can grow closely with the growth of the cargo volume of cross-border e-commerce companies and sellers and meet their personalized operation needs and compliance processes. Customized services are to create some tailor-made service plans based on the actual funds, product characteristics, cargo volume, etc. of customers, such as personalized services formulated for customers’ requirements for time efficiency, cost budget, better customs clearance, and risk reduction.
In the future, the cross-border e-commerce logistics industry and enterprises will develop towards the goals of business networking, freight rate productization, service standardization, warehousing automation, process digitization, process visualization and delivery traceability.