International logistics is an all-encompassing professional field. The emergence of cross-border e-commerce platforms allows buyers and sellers to conduct transactions directly without intermediaries. Small and micro enterprises and even individuals can participate in international trade to realize cross-border logistics with one-stop delivery of cross-border e-commerce, which has brought about The take-off of cross-border online retail. Cross-border logistics is the Achilles heel of cross-border e-commerce, with logistics costs accounting for 20% to 30% of the total cost of cross-border e-commerce.
Small orders and multi-frequency orders are increasing day by day. According to statistics from the Universal Postal Union, the number of global cross-border parcels has been in a rapid growth trend since 2006, and its proportion of the total number of global parcels is also increasing. The changes that the Internet has brought to logistics services, in addition to physical packetization, have also changed the business model of international logistics. The main business of traditional international logistics is international trade transportation, mainly shipping containers. It mainly solves the isolation of space and time between production and consumption, and the isolation of information and certain functions between production and consumption.
The development of cross-border e-commerce has caused fundamental changes in the business model of international logistics, combining logistics with supply chain management, from being solely responsible for transportation to working with production companies, suppliers and buyers. It combines business partners and other trading parties to further help enterprises realize the reconstruction and optimization of the entire supply chain process from raw materials to finished products, and from suppliers to end consumers. This not only shortens the logistics cycle, but also controls the accuracy and reliability of high-speed logistics. In 2015, my country’s cross-border e-commerce exported about 1 billion pieces of light and small parcels. If the rough calculation of the cost of logistics links is 25%, then the market size of this part of cross-border B2C logistics in 2015 has reached 119.6 billion, and in the future It will maintain a compound annual growth rate of more than 35% in the next few years.
Cross-border logistics delivery involves many links, including domestic and foreign warehousing, transportation, distribution and customs, as well as integrated order management, inventory management, distribution management and transportation management. Therefore, the full cross-border logistics service can be divided into three parts. The first is to support B2B larger business, such as sea freight LCL and air freight; the second is to support cross-border small package express delivery and other businesses; the third is foreign trade services, focusing on the trade process. The factory inspection, inspection and inspection, order tracking and other aspects of the process, as well as general customs clearance, freight forwarding business, etc. are carried out. At present, this part of the service mainly provides offline trade service providers to serve cross-border e-commerce buyers and sellers, and some have also entered the online service market.
With the changes in the “e-commerce + trade” business model, especially when combined with comprehensive foreign trade services and financial value-added services, the scope of cross-border logistics has been infinitely expanded. Logistics companies usually need to possess several The main capabilities are: first, international transportation, such as freight forwarding, warehouses, dedicated lines, insurance, etc., to control the source of goods and service quality; second, customs clearance, qualifications and port docking; third, technology platform, such as e-commerce integration, status visualization , the process is controllable; the fourth is overseas operation capabilities, such as overseas warehouses, cross-border freight forwarding for traditional retail, overseas procurement and supply chain; the fifth is cross-border bonded operation capabilities, such as bonded area settlement and bonded warehouse operation; the sixth is domestic delivery and purpose Cooperate with the country to provide low-cost, efficient and value-added services.
At present, the international logistics models that meet cross-border e-commerce include: postal parcels, commercial express delivery, dedicated line logistics, bonded warehouses and overseas warehouses. The diversity of logistics models allows merchants to focus on product features, logistics costs and timeliness stability when making choices. Cross-border e-commerce products have a wide variety, small batches, and high frequency. The volume and weight vary greatly. Different categories require different transportation and warehousing solutions. Cross-border logistics needs to achieve one-stop, door-to-door services, especially Effective connection between international and domestic logistics.
The development of cross-border logistics still lags behind the requirements of the e-commerce market. Problems such as backlog of goods, delays or lost and damaged goods are prominent. The warehousing system for placing massive and scattered orders is imperfect. Faced with diverse and complex customers The demands of globalization cannot be solved efficiently. In some countries, the local logistics system is not very developed and there is a lack of foreign logistics distribution centers, resulting in poor consumer experience, long delivery times, inability to track packages throughout the entire process, inconvenient returns and exchanges, and customs clearance obstacles.