Trends in 2020 Affecting Retail Logistics

Imagine having a successful online retail store. You get tons of orders every day, but you also get complaints since you don’t offer online shipping.

Luckily, international shipping is one of a few recent retail logistics trends. Whether you already have a successful online store or not, you can ship your products all over the world.

As you build out that shipping plan, consider some of the other recent retail trends so that you can stay on top of the changes.

Related: Parcll Delivery Warehouse Opening Right By LAX Airport: Extending Our Global Reach

Expectation for Multi-Channel Experiences

One of the most recent retail logistics trends is an expectation of customer experience. The growth of the internet and social media has led to the development of multi-channel experiences.

Retail stores can have a website, blog and social media profiles to interact with customers.

You can use your store’s various platforms to connect with your customers in different ways. Of course, you want to get them to your website to buy from you.

Social media channels and blogs are a great way to get people to your website. 

However, you also want to make the customer experience as seamless as possible across platforms. The need for cohesive branding is essential to getting customers interested and convincing them to buy your products.

You don’t want to have a ton of followers on Facebook who love your content only to find that they don’t click through to your website.

In 2020, the multi-channel experience can make or break a sale. As you plan your content and marketing strategy, make sure you think about every platform you have and use them well.

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Online eCommerce

Especially with the pandemic, 2020 is shaping up to be a year of online eCommerce. Whether people can’t leave their homes to shop or don’t want to, online shopping has become extremely popular.

Selling products online allows you to reach a broader audience without having to manage multiple physical locations.

As a business owner, you can put more time and resources into other tasks. Online eCommerce is one of the best retail logistics trends, especially for smaller stores.

All you need is a place to store your inventory and a good set of software to manage sales and orders.

Customers also benefit from eCommerce because they have more flexibility. They don’t have to get out and go to a store to buy a new item or restock an essential.

If you have a following on social media, you can use that to draw people in. Share what you’re offering, and demonstrate its value. With video marketing also on the rise, there’s no better time to demonstrate products in your online store.

However, many online stores have to worry about international shipping.

International Shipping

As more companies are opening online stores, they’ve also started taking orders from other countries. Shipping internationally is one of the current retail logistics trends, and it can be an excellent way to increase your customer base.

However, as you set up your plan, you should consider DDP shipping, which is short for Delivered Duty Paid.

If you ship products, you will have to pay for duties, customs fees and taxes. As the product crosses international borders, you will rack up such fees depending on the country.

DDP is a great way to take the stress off your international customers. If you don’t cover those costs, your customers could end up with a much larger bill than they expect.

Of course, you will need to plan for these costs when charging international customers. However, it can be an excellent strategy for getting repeat customers.

Whether you’re working with customers across the border or on the other side of the world, you want to make things easy. People don’t want to have to work hard, especially when they have to pay.

As international shipping becomes more common, selecting the right method can make or break online stores.

Related: 5 Ways to Improve Warehouse Efficiency

Big Data and Innovative Technology

Data and technology are expected to play an important role in retail logistics. For one, using data and statistics can help retailers predict customer activity.

Using big data, stores can track customers, especially what they do online. If you do this correctly, you can use that data to help determine the best time to sell to customers.

If you track when your customers view your site and potentially add items to their cart, you can use that. Perhaps a customer puts something in their cart but leaves your site.

If you have their email address, you can send them a coupon reminding them to come back and make that purchase.

Innovative technology, such as robots and autonomous vehicles will also be important. Robots can help busy retailers track and move inventory.

Eventually, autonomous vehicles may have the capability to make deliveries without a person.

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Faster Delivery Services

As online shopping becomes more popular, shipping times have become shorter. Many customers don’t want to wait a week to receive their order.

Companies like Amazon have made two-day shipping the norm for retail logistics. They’ve already switched to one-day shipping on some products.

Some products are even available for delivery within a few hours.

While delivery times can only be so short, retail logistics trends show that they will continue to get shorter. Of course, shopping online requires a bit of shipping time.

However, customers have come to expect rapid shipping times, even from smaller online stores.

Parcll Delivery can provide ease, fast, and affordable shipping solution

Live Tracking

Along with fast shipping times, customers have also come to expect the ability to track their order.

Especially when selling internationally, you and your customer should be able to track a package. If something happens to delay it, you will know.

Even if there are no delays, your customer will be able to track their package until it gets to their door.

Some shipping companies even offer live tracking, which allows you to see a package’s exact location. However, even a more simple tracking method is better than none at all.

Following Retail Logistics Trends

Every year brings about new retail logistics trends, and it’s important to keep up with them. As the world moves more online, so will retail sales.

Are you looking for an easy way to ship online orders internationally? Check out our Parcel Direct service.

Related: What to Look for When Choosing the Right International Parcel Shipping Company?