Cross-border logistics, every peak season, brings joy and sorrow to sellers. Warehouses are bursting, lines are congested, customs inspections are strict, customs clearance is delayed, warehouses are suddenly reduced, transportation capacity is insufficient, delivery is poor, and packages are delayed, resulting in a sharp increase in customer complaints and negative reviews. , the after-sales service is in a mess, and there is no way to recover, affecting account operations. Due to helplessness, the platform can only introduce a protection policy that exempts sellers from liability for logistics delays during peak seasons. In the cross-border e-commerce market, two forces are squeezing the upgrade of logistics services.
First, product competition extends to the service level. Buyers are increasingly concerned about logistics needs. Slow timeliness, difficulty in customs clearance, inability to return, loss and damage, and inability to track the entire process directly affect buyers. Evaluation of the seller. On the other hand, logistics costs will erode the seller’s profits. Under low prices and frequent promotions, a gross profit margin below 15% will be a dead run. If it is below 25%, capital chain problems will occur, and only pursuing low logistics prices will become a common phenomenon.
However, cross-border logistics is a whole service chain, including customs clearance, warehousing, air transportation, shipping, distribution and many other links. Most logistics companies are small in scale and have single functions. The performance of a single link may not pass the test. The overall performance is unsatisfactory. Therefore, to choose the appropriate logistics method, we must consider the characteristics of the goods such as air embargo, live transport restrictions, value, weight, volume, quantity, etc., as well as the buyer’s endurance time and other demands, so as to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
There are several constraints when choosing cross-border logistics. One is price. General packages are only based on price. Special lines, first-leg and overseas warehouses are also “gradually falling”. The second is timeliness. The logistics markets in Europe and the United States are very mature, but they are afraid of strikes in the off-season, and in peak seasons, transportation capacity is tight and require a combination of punches. In emerging markets, the domestic logistics system has not yet been established or is too weak, such as Russia, Brazil, India, etc. They all still mainly rely on the universal postal service. They collect goods as quickly as possible on the first leg, and can only wait for the final delivery.
The third is quality. The three evils of logistics are delays, damage and loss. We don’t seek the fastest, but the most stable. Most sellers will only understand this after suffering losses in this regard. Low prices Substituting low-quality products will cause endless harm; the last thing is service, whether the channel functions are comprehensive, as evidenced by business scale and overall strength, such as whether the distribution of outlets is wide enough, whether there is a system that seamlessly connects upstream and downstream, etc. Logistics status tracking must be provided.
Cross-border export transportation channels are a guarantee. Failure to transport means no trading. In traditional international logistics, shipping container consolidation and multimodal transport have the lowest costs, with bulk trade goods being the main focus; door-to-door small items are mainly transported by air, and are subdivided into commercial express delivery, postal parcels, consolidated warehouses, packaged warehouses, and packaged boards, etc.
Cross-border logistics has been assembled on the basis of the original logistics functions of each link, and combined the domestic logistics of various countries to form a variety of service products. For example, Wish has nearly 120 logistics shipping methods, and AliExpress has more than ten cross-border logistics partners in Southeast Asia alone, such as China Post, YTO Overseas, SF Overseas, Sifang, Fungo, Kuyoyo, and Korean Express. Other platforms are similar. Logistics products are established in one day and often have the public nature of channels.
In the whole year of 2014, the order volume of the United States accounted for 42% of all orders on DHgate.com, becoming the country with the largest volume of logistics shipments. In terms of average delivery cycle, the four major express delivery days are 3 to 4 days. Generally, it takes 9 to 14 days for express delivery (including E-mail) and 16 to 22 days for ordinary small parcels.
There are also a type of logistics service platforms, such as Jincheng, Wohang, Huodou, Lanting Zhitong, etc., which also provide cross-border logistics management. By comparing the prices and services of different suppliers, you can get preferential quotes. Supports functions such as online ordering, settlement and inquiry.