What will be the biggest ecommerce challenges facing companies in 2023?
Consumer behaviour has changed. Most notably, there is a continual increase in consumers shopping online to purchase items they would have previously purchased in physical retail stores.
Even though supply chain, logistics, and procurement professionals have managed to overcome diversity in many forms throughout time, both old and new difficulties continue to interrupt manufacturing and shipping operations.
8 challenges that ecommerce and logistics companies may experience face in 2023
Customer expectationsCustomer expectations are rapidly increasing, with a growing demand for faster delivery times, a superior online customer experience and value for money. Businesses all over the world are under pressure to meet this demand as an attempt to maintain brand loyalty. |
Tracking online ordersCustomers must be able to track their orders and receive regular updates from an ecommerce company. This means that businesses must develop a tracking system that allows customers to engage with retailers and track their order after clicking the “purchase” button. |
Scaling your eCommerce logisticsEcommerce brands must comprehend and apply dynamic scaling logistics, which allows them to scale their ecommerce supply chain up or down following fluctuations in demand without overextending their assets or tying up their cash flow. |
Warehousing: Managing capacityFor ecommerce businesses, determining where and how to keep inventory has become a huge concern. Overestimating the required space can increase prices, while underestimating it might cause a backlog and slow down your ecommerce logistics. |
The growth of cross–border tradeThere are numerous reasons why cross-border trade expansion can be an ecommerce problem. To begin with, ensuring customer items arrive in good condition when crossing borders can be difficult especially if using third party handlers. The second issue is language barrier, as many ecommerce platforms only supply support in their native language and sometimes English as an addition. This can result in delays to issues, such as customers, being resolved. In addition, in some cross-border scenarios there can be several currencies being. Because each country uses distinct payment systems, cross-border trade can be a challenge. |
Managing ecommerce returnsHaving a return logistics in place has now become a pre-requisite for businesses. Returns have become a common occurrence when shopping online with customers returning something if it does not meet their expectations, from shoes being the wrong size to packages being delivered damaged. This means that ecommerce businesses will have to keep a careful check on their customers’ return behaviour as well as consumer trends. |
Price and shippingCustomers prefer to shop at stores that offer free shipping. Most businesses, however, cannot afford take on the shipping costs although you can adjust for shipping fees in other ways. Foer example, raising product prices is a straightforward approach to offer free shipping without losing money. |
Capitalisation of dataBusinesses are putting forth a lot of effort to develop data-driven ecommerce solutions. This will help businesses with everything from shipping to retail management and multichannel solutions such as BOPIS. Beyond conversion rates and average order values, fully using data from digital commerce services can help measure business KPIs, monitor consumer behaviour and provide business insights. |
Finding a logistics and order fulfilment service
For a variety of ecommerce logistics issues, third-party logistics services can be the most effective answer. A customer’s online experience can be greatly influenced by the shipping process, as the correct provider will assist you in scaling while remaining adaptable to meet your needs. Most importantly, a third-party solution will provide peace of mind through assistance and guidance.
Explore how Digital Supply Chain tools can help you avoid these challenges.