What a great event! This year, too, we were present with our stand at the Internet World Expo, the leading e-commerce trade fair in Munich, and look back on two fantastic trade fair days.
The world of e-commerce never comes to rest
It's sometimes hard to believe how quickly the e-commerce industry is developing. That's why it's all the more important for us as a fulfillment service provider to know our customers' real needs. Ten years ago, when we looked after our first customers in e-commerce fulfillment, the world of online retail was, for example, still a completely different one.
The measure of all things was eBay, which was practically synonymous with shopping on the internet. And the retailers active there preferred to handle their own logistics. Back then, eBay power sellers still lacked a connection to fulfillment companies like ours, and therefore also the trust that everything in the shipping process would really run smoothly.
But the success and visible advantages of e-fulfillment spoke for themselves, and that led to a rethink on the retailer side too. Today, it's completely normal even for startups to outsource their e-commerce logistics – even if, on average, they only have very few shipments to send. It's better to conserve the already limited personnel resources and invest that time (rightly) in product development and customer satisfaction instead.
What we've picked up from many conversations with online retailers: the bar that customers set for online shop orders keeps rising. Faux pas such as wrong or missing deliveries, or subpar packaging material, are forgiven less and less, and above all, things need to move fast: ordered today, delivered tomorrow. Individual retailers can't always manage that. But then again, they don't have to, when there are specialists for that.
Faster, more demanding, more international than ever
These increased demands apply internationally too – another trend in e-commerce that we're feeling more and more strongly. More and more online shops are no longer limiting themselves to the DACH region. By now, the shipping radius is at least Europe-wide, if not worldwide. The internationalization of online retail will therefore play an even bigger role in the future.
Back to the increased customer demands for a moment: if customers don't like the product or everything around it, it goes back. This, in turn, is reflected in retailers' return rates. It's no surprise that returns are costly and labor-intensive, since the entire order and logistics process has to be reversed. At the same time, smoothly functioning returns management has by now become a matter of course for customers, which is why we talked about this topic more and more often with shop operators at our stand at the Internet World Expo this year.
We stay on the ball for you
As already mentioned: the world of e-commerce never stands still. That's why it's all the more important for fulfillment service providers like us to stay alert and present, and to know both the "pain points" and the needs of online retailers. That means not only being on-site with a stand at e-commerce events like the Internet World Expo, but also looking and listening around as a visitor and observer at other online retail and industry trade fairs.
So stay tuned – we're out there for you, and we're happy to keep you up to date on the most important trends in e-commerce, fulfillment, and more!
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