The Emerging Need of Digitization In Logistics & Supply Chain Post COVID-19

The Emerging Need of Digitization In Logistics & Supply Chain Post COVID-19

[email protected] +1-971-336-6410 www.expertsconsult.org

The COVID-19 outbreak brought a lot of things into consideration. From a must-have Risk Assessment Strategy/team to a Business Continuity Plan, from technology to digital transformation of businesses, and from understanding and being able to differentiate the value of essential and casual products, we learned a lot. However, with the imposed lockdown, social distancing measures, and other everyday precautions, many businesses have turned into a negligible size and importance. Even businesses such as the ever-increasing and in demand, logistics and supply chain are witnessing business disruption due to COVID-19. Due to the lockdown and people protecting themselves from the virus, everyone decided to stay put in their home and space to practice social distancing which consequently increased internet usage, digital platforms, and online shopping with home deliveries. Not just this, with almost every other company providing work from home to its employees, the usage of digital platforms became a must. COVID-19 has definitely triggered the growth of digitization in the market and at homes too. This has led other industries that often worked as per traditional measures to turn to digitization and technology for gaining revenue and bringing the business back to normal. One such business is the logistics and supply chain business that welcomed digitization with open arms to gain efficiency and effectiveness in a whole new way.

The whole retail business with logistics and supply chain faced a lot of issues and problems in its different sectors. They faced major problems in:

● Pricing● Supply chain management● Customer demand fulfillment● Customer satisfaction● Health & Safety issues● Demand and supply issues● Delivery on time issues● Running out of essential products

These were primary issues faced by the logistics business along with supply-chain. As many other businesses are capitalizing during the pandemic because others are merely waiting for a better way to centralize, it is the right time and need of the hour for the logistics business to transform itself digitally in a complete manner.

Digitization brings a whole new perspective of achieving better solutions and providing enhanced services at a quick rate, quick turnaround, and in less time consuming effortless manner. Technology adoption, on the other hand, has helped multiple businesses in understanding the changing consumer buying behavior in the wake of Coronavirus and has also helped in rapidly change business strategies to offer value and satisfaction to its consumers. Customer interaction became easy with digitization and technology which ultimately helped in providing the best and exact products and services and taking the business a step ahead in the game.

Business Continuation with Digitization

Digitization is the best way to provide a balance and maintain the continuity of any business. See how Digitizationc can help retail businesses in a clear way.

Offers a handy and a comfortable platform for the customers

With everything online these days, digitization has helped not just e-commerce stores and businesses to take advantage of it, but the retail and logistics business is revelling in its presence. By providing customers a detailed catalogue of everything that is to be explained of a product, digital platforms offer them the effortless understandability of a product online with clear pictures and videos. With offers such as sales of different kinds, it provides people who are unable to leave the house to buy products at the comfort of their home.

During COVID-19 the online business and shopping had increased at a huge rate with almost everyone buying different products from digital platforms only. A survey by Engine found that people are spending on average 10-30% more online. Moreover, according to data from Nielsen, items like hygienic and medical mask sales are up by more than 300%.

Also, the downloading of apps like Instacart and Ship that allow people to hire personal shoppers to prepare and in some cases deliver their grocery orders have increased by between 124% (for Shipt) and 218% (for Instacart). ShipBob, a shipping and fulfilment partner for eCommerce stores, gathered data from 3,000+ of their merchants and to keep such data stored and tracked needs technology and digitization aids, so such merchants are in dire need of technology to help them balance and maintain the data properly. Also, the month-over-month increase in online sales for food and beverage is over 18.8 percentage. Such is the influence, impact, and need of digital platforms to provide consumers with proper products in the retia business.

Digitization in Logistics and retail provides the right approach and analysis 

Sales challenges in normal times are already a stem of difficulty for retail and logistics, the difficulty that is to be faced amid COVID-19 is over the top more significant to resolve and make better with digitization and technology. Data is the biggest asset for any industry these days. Technology such as Big Data, Data Analysis, predictive analytics is all based on data management, storage, and utilizing the information to take proper business measures and reshape business strategies in such a way to step closure to business growth.

Analyzing data is crucial these days to offer predictive analytics technology that uses data stored in the system to analyze it and provide information based on studying and going through the experiences of customers. It provides predictive analytics that tells us the customer buying behavior and what issues can occur in the strategies adopted and how the outcome can be enhanced. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are the prime technologies used in order to tackle and gain better and efficient results from data and customer experience.

Analyzing in the right manner is what takes the real deal of facing the challenge along with using the right approach and strategies. As the prime source of generating revenues, a business strategy is a must, some often move on the path of generating sales from a customer in traditional ways. However, as per industry experts, the adoption of technology and digitization in logistics and retail has offered more revenue and better results than just adjusting to traditional ways.

Advantages of Digitization

Digitization has numerous benefits, be it small retail and logistics business or for a large business. There are some factors that can help in the benefit of a business and they are as follows:

E-commerce and digital platforms help customers in the best way possible by allowing them to get a look at the products with detailed descriptions and pictures for their benefits. As per the COVID-19 safety measures are a concern, online shopping and business are booming with more and more people opting to buy online rather than going out of their houses.

The online catalog present on the digital platforms helps them save a lot of time with zero effort. Most of the revenue is generated due to such methods is gaining its popularity with a better side of results too.

Moreover, digital transformation provides quick delivery and effortless shopping of products where quality is not compromised. During the COVID-19 outbreak, digital platforms have definitely helped a lot in practicing social distancing and maintaining a safety measure with the products being easily available at the click of a button.

New Opportunities With Digitization Post COVID-19

Business disruption sure brings a lot of difficult situations to face along with a variety of issues and challenges, but this business disruption that came with a pandemic has brought digitization as an essential asset for every business, especially for supply chain and logistics. Whenever a business goes under changes or faces disruption or challenges, its primary step is to expand its verticals and go through the issues and areas where it can make sure to not go through the same thing again. With facing and going through every business strategy and plan, businesses come across development plans, new opportunities, expansion methods, new trends and technology adoptions, and risk factors that can impact the business in a positive way.

All these things come under digitization or transforming a business digitally. When a business is in expansion mode, it goes through different routes, trades, new product launches, or reshaping business as per the competitive level in the market. Digitization of logistics and supply chain business is to bring new opportunities with it. Ranging from the usage and efficiency of different techniques such as AI, ML, IoT, digitization will bring customer satisfaction and brand value.

COVID-19 might not have stopped people from getting out of their homes but it sure has left a huge impact on people to shop online and use digital platforms more than they used to.

The rapid increase of COVID-19 had disrupted different logistics sector and it has witnessed a sharp decline in the fright availability due to restrictions on non-essential products and goods. The major sectors that faced a huge decline in its logistics sector are the Healthcare industry and the FMCG industry.

The adoption of technology has helped the logistics and supply chain sectors to offer home deliveries without coming in contact with people with the help of drones and unmanned deliveries. Logistics is also to become smart logistics with the help of rapid digital and technology adoption.

Digital Logistics Market Analysis

The digital adoption in logistics is increasing rapidly in the market ensuring end-to-end visibility across multiple operations, including such as shipments, orders, and inventory. This helps in reducing the inventory levels and increases the response time efficiently promising quick deliveries. With the help of digitization, the supply chain level has also become an effortless operation with a swift transition.

The driving factor of digital logistics is the usage of data analytics and new techniques that helps in analyzing freight rates and modifying contract timing and length of period to minimize risks. Not just this, the digital logistics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% owing to the increasing adoption of advanced technologies as a constant effort to reducing allied costs during the forecast period of 2020 - 2025.

As of May 2020, Deutsche Post DHL Group declared the expansion of supply chain networks during the global pandemic. The company also reported to the development and growth of a software platform with Blue Yonder on Microsoft cloud to help stimulate the adoption of warehouse robotics. This clarifies that the adoption of technology and digitization has hastened due to the pandemic and every business is trying to expand and adapt to new challenges and changes.

ExpertsConsult is a technology-driven platform that uses advanced techniques including Artificial Intelligence to search and match industry experts based on the required insights. Our system evaluates more than 30 data points to find the right expert from our database.

ExpertsConsult helps professionals to connect with experts and seek consultation to overcome business and operational challenges, gain market insights, develop skills, and test ideas.

With a strong global network of experts across industry groups and sub-groups, ExpertsConsult is able to offer quick and on-demand insights to clients worldwide. Not just that, we also have a dedicated team of researchers that will help you find an expert matching your requirement through our custom recruitment process.

Since our founding, ExpertsConsult has been connecting professionals with subject matter experts across fields. Today we make professionals gain smarter insights by connecting them to our network of more than 50,000 experts, including industry experts, analysts, consultants, academics, retirees, and also subject matter experts. We serve professionals from research firms, management consulting firms, corporations, and other professional services firms.

About Us

633, SE Clay St Portland,Oregon 97214 USA

[email protected]

+1-971-336-6410

THANK YOU!

www.facebook.com/ExpertsConsultLLC/ www.linkedin.com/company/experts-consult-llc/ www.twitter.com/ExpertsConsults