Logistics firms that are concentrating on the e-commerce sector have so far pursued either one or both of two strands – going after online merchants or after e-commerce platforms like eBay or Alibaba. Increasingly a third target group is coming into the picture: technology firms that offer e-commerce functionality to merchants.

“What’s driving cargo and freight is technology in transport and e-commerce,” said Brian Bourke, vice president of marketing at SEKO Logistics, which has focused heavily on the e-commerce and multi-channel arenas.

He described a fundamental shift in his company’s approach from push logistics to pull logistics. Traditionally retailers had all the control, but this has shifted to consumers, accompanied by the evolution of technology geared to meeting consumer expectations.

“We’re still moving cargo as a traditional forwarder, but more and more a consumer is linked to the shipment,” he said. “It’s about building better solutions. It’s not driven by traditional cargo sales.”

This puts more emphasis on the technology that delivers solutions that consumers require and the providers of this technology.

“It’s not only about integration with customers’ ERP systems any more, it is about e-commerce platforms as well. The objective is to facilitate a more frictionless e-commerce experience,” said Bourke.

“Last year, we made a strategic decision to partner more with technology providers that are already engaged with big e-commerce platforms in an effort to facilitate the integration of our solution and to accelerate customer onboarding. This initiative has allowed us to scale faster by taking away the need for system integration with different retailers,” he said.

In February SEKO announced a strategic partnership with Easyship, a provider of cloud-based shipping software that allows merchants to ship products to customers around the globe. The software calculates taxes and duties for worldwide deliveries and provides pre-filled customs documentation for all countries. In addition, it offers rate comparisons and service analytics, plus a number of logistics elements ranging from shipping labels and pick-up arrangements to tracking and storage.

According to Easyship, the ability to display real-time shipping options and give full-cost visibility to consumers triples the likelihood that consumers will complete an online purchase and not abandon the shopping cart at checkout.

Easyship boasts a client base of more than 40,000 global sellers. SEKO has worked with the company for some time, and Bourke attributed his firm’s growth in e-commerce logistics last year in part to this collaboration, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Now the pair have put their partnership on a formal basis that covers the globe.

“By creating a global partnership between our two companies and offering the pricing and transit times needed to gain customer orders and build brand loyalty, we are enabling shippers of all sizes to leverage our next-day, cross-border e-commerce reach, final mile postal integrations and returns services,” Bourke said.

The partnership with Easyship follows a similar alignment last November, when SEKO teamed up with ShipStation, another major provider of shipping technology. With over 150 shopping carts, marketplaces and fulfillment services, ShipStation claims to have the most integrations with e-commerce solutions, from eBay and Amazon to Shopify Plus and PayPal.

According to Bourke, Easyship’s scope is more international, whereas ShipStation is stronger in the US domestic arena, but growing internationally.

“ShipStation is already the largest e-commerce TMS provider in the US, but they also want to expand more in the UK and Australia, which we can support with our established operations in both countries. We will also have the ability soon to extend our ‘White Glove’ services to ShipStation merchants selling heavier weight products in the US,” he said.

Kerry Logistics is also moving to expand its reach through partnering with an e-commerce technology provider. In February it announced a joint venture with E-Services Group to strengthen global e-commerce fulfillment capabilities, especially in the Greater China region. The joint venture, ‘Kerry ESG’, will combine Kerry’s logistics capabilities with E-Services Group’s technology platform, global marketplace networks and e-commerce expertise.

“With Kerry ESG we are creating a unique platform with total solutions from upstream marketing to downstream logistics that will capitalize on the booming international marketplace model to facilitate the exports for our international brand customers,” stated William Ma, group managing director of Kerry Logistics.

By Ian Putzger

Correspondent | Toronto