The definition of logistics itself is slightly abstract. It is a part of supply chain activities and a process of planning, implementing and controlling the flow and storage of goods, services and related information from the place of origin to the place of consumption in order to meet customer needs. According to the “National Economic Industry Classification”, logistics includes “transportation, warehousing and postal industries” and includes railway, highway, water, aviation, pipeline and other transportation industries, loading and unloading and transportation agency industry, warehousing industry, postal and express delivery industry.
According to the “Logistics Enterprise Classification and Evaluation Indicators” jointly issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the National Standards Committee, logistics enterprises can be roughly divided into three categories: transportation, warehousing and comprehensive service. Currently, there are two main perspectives for classifying the large logistics industry: service providers or subdivided entities. Transportation is based on asset-intensive infrastructure investment and operation, and is rarely included in logistics. Most of the logistics topics discussed are finished product and consumer goods logistics in a narrow sense, and non-production material logistics services.
Due to the inaccurate classification standards, the statistical caliber of my country’s total logistics costs as a proportion of GDP may not be accurate enough. Judging from the current express delivery industry, the ratio of full freight to order price per customer is lower than that in developed markets. Looking only at the consumer goods market, from the perspective of service demand and excluding special factors, logistics service products are mainly limited to the two constraints of “timeliness + piece weight”, which determines the business scope of the enterprise and the choice of transportation means.
Involving transnational markets, the development of international logistics is more difficult than domestic. Many traditional logistics industries or trading companies have transformed and upgraded or extended their industrial chains. By expanding and extending their logistics services to customers, they are constantly moving towards modern times. The upgrading of international logistics requires the dual advantages of customers and network after years of accumulation.
At this point, the business models of logistics companies can be divided into several categories. (1) Express parcels usually have a fixed delivery time and focus on the transportation of a wide range of standardized lightweight parcels. It is a door-to-door service. Transportation and storage are mostly carried out in the service provider’s own network, which requires network scale. effect. There are a large number of domestic express delivery companies, and homogeneous competition is serious. The international market is limited to aviation networks and operational capabilities, and the pattern is stable in the long term.
(2) Contract logistics, also known as third-party logistics 3PL, is a medium- and long-term contract relationship between customers and logistics service providers, including various comprehensive logistics solutions or supply chain customized services. In the contractual relationship, the scope of logistics services is very flexible because of the high investment period and high system coupling, high customer switching costs, and barriers to entry and exit. 3PL’s branding, integration and project management are key capabilities, integrating its own and external resources to meet customers’ logistics services in different supply chain links.
(3) Delivery, using your own network to provide delivery services for specific types of goods to end users or points of sale. This market is very fragmented and regional, and market segments have high barriers to entry. This is due to the different characteristics and needs of specific commodities, which require the use of specific means of transportation and storage to enter their own warehouses and distribution networks. We can think of the transnational market as many divided distribution areas.
(4) Freight forwarding is a purely asset-light business model. Freight contractors purchase transportation capacity from operators and resell it to customers. Operational risks are related to fluctuations in trade flows, and long-term carrier relationships are complex. The IT system is a key capability and has similarities with 3PL NVOCCs and truckbrokers.
(5) Warehousing. In the context of integrated e-commerce warehousing and distribution, domestic pure warehousing operating companies are declining sharply, and the functions of warehousing are also different from those in the past. Both bonded warehouses and overseas warehouses embody the cross-border The role of the operation center of overseas e-commerce.
(6) Fourth-party logistics (4PL), the original concept is an asset-free business model that provides a complete solution to customers’ transportation and logistics needs. This meaning is being replaced by “logistics” + Internet” innovative model is realized. In the fields of vehicle and cargo matching, transportation tracking, service crowdsourcing, capacity bidding, intelligent technology and other fields, e-commerce platforms deciding logistics options on behalf of buyers and sellers can be generally classified into this category.
Large-scale comprehensive international logistics companies often provide all-encompassing services. The international high-end market is in a monopoly. From the perspective of cross-border e-commerce, we can describe the trend of global trade flows and its impact on the supply of related services. The treasures of cross-border logistics and logistics finance are urgently needed to be explored.