Future trends may no longer solely focus on inventory management, warehouse security, equipment selection, and tracking of shipments and deliveries; this is management logistics. The author believes it will increasingly lean towards — operational logistics.
Operational Logistics (Features)
Product turnover and sales velocity are no longer just concerns for the procurement and sales departments. A truly advanced e-commerce logistics model is — push logistics, not pull logistics. Logistics focuses on product turnover to drive a review of the company's operational efficiency, and on sales velocity to drive a review of the value and costs of stored goods.
Data on delivery complaint and return rates drive the success of conversion behind the company's front-end conversion rate.
Managed logistics is always just a cost center, driving inventory management for the company. Only operational logistics has the opportunity to shift from a cost center to a value center.
Operational logistics often focuses on ROI, conversion rates, PR values, UX, UI, CRM, ERP, and more, as these are factors that influence strategies. Therefore, simply managing logistics is never enough. E-commerce logistics must increasingly align with operations to maintain vitality and deliver value within the company's operations; otherwise, it can only be a costly burden on the company's operations.
Summary
An e-commerce logistics company that focuses solely on logistics management will quickly become parochial and eventually fade away.
A logistics management team that focuses more on operations and has a management approach biased towards the company's operational direction can always thrive.
The future of e-commerce logistics will be dominated by personalized services.
E-commerce logistics is constantly exploring suitable paths for development, with diverse business models leading to the emergence of various logistics approaches. Self-built logistics, third-party logistics, and logistics platforms are among the most common solutions adopted by companies.
The evolving diversity of e-commerce logistics will undoubtedly lead to a growing number of logistics providers offering "tailored logistics" to address the pain points of e-commerce companies. E-commerce businesses will also support business expansion through various channels, ultimately matching with suitable logistics operational models.
The impact of e-commerce companies' own sales in the future will lead to an increasing variety of logistics models, emerging one after another. What logistics companies bring about is "individualized logistics services," where companies themselves match to achieve the best solutions without being constrained by logistics models that could affect front-end sales. This is a significant distinction.
Currently, the models of e-commerce logistics, agricultural logistics, and platform logistics (domestic logistics model environment) are unlikely to disappear in the short term. However, one thing is certain: the ultimate model will define that "a logistics company can expand across multiple channels, and an e-commerce company can support multiple channels," ensuring there is no conflict and offering an optimal solution.
E-commerce Logistics Model (Characteristics)
Our Logistics and Distribution Model
Third-party Logistics Distribution Model
Alliance Logistics Distribution Model
O-S-O Logistics Model
Fourth-party Logistics Model
Self-operated Logistics + Third-party Logistics Distribution Model
Self-operated Logistics + Customer Pickup/In-house Delivery
Third-party Logistics (Customer Pickup/Third-party Delivery)
Fifth-party Logistics Model
Operational logistics emerged with the "new retail" model, which centers around user experience. The core of this business model is people, and the overall methodology also places a strong emphasis on the importance of individuals.
Former Alibaba President Wei Zhe commented, "The economic formula in the Internet era: E=MC2, where economy equals goods multiplied by people."
The square of C (people) is the key to triggering the atomic bomb of business. If we only manage goods and not people, the growth of the enterprise may very well be blocked here.
At its core, it's all about improving logistics efficiency.
Future Logistics Model for E-commerce Enterprises
Closing Remarks
Optimizing e-commerce logistics models, adhering to the principles of internet thinking, operational logistics must be mutually beneficial. So-called mutual benefit in logistics refers to creating profits for ourselves by reducing customers' costs.
Essentially, you save others money to make a profit. A crucial concept here is that if there is a loss at a certain cost level due to a specific environmental factor, you should consider increasing the cost.
Logistics costs are not always better when reduced, and they cannot continue to decline unilaterally indefinitely.
Logistics companies' "tailored services" have, to some extent, addressed the multi-channel sales challenges faced by e-commerce enterprises, striking a balance that ensures mutual benefits and profitability.
From an e-commerce company perspective, simplifying the operation of "personalized services," reducing logistics management costs, facilitating communication between e-commerce departments, and constructing logistics infrastructure rapidly enables an operational logistics model. This makes the logistics operations simpler for logistics companies and also lowers the management difficulty. It shifts the focus from internal logistics within the company to the operational aspects of logistics companies, eliminating personalization.
From a logistics company's perspective, we offer a multi-model, personalized service solution, enhancing service awareness. We provide swift responses across all aspects, including vehicles, personnel, systems, and equipment, to ensure e-commerce businesses can operate normally.
