Inbound Logistics | January 2022

SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESSES: PRIORITIZE PARTNERS OVER POACHERS. COVID-19 spurred growth within e-commerce marketplaces, as many shoppers realized the benefits of the digital marketplace. Social media platforms have only furthered this trend, with TikTok being the latest company to evolve its in-stream shopping tools. In 2022, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) need to take a closer eye to their e-commerce partnerships. While many SMBs have seen the benefits of selling via these third-party platforms, some have also experienced the downside: customer competition. Identifying e-commerce platforms that are partners versus poachers is critical, ensuring that small businesses maintain customer relationships.

OPTIMIZE ASSETS. As eet managers re-evaluate their operational strategy, they will look for intuitive asset management technology that offers exibility, actionable data, and real- time transparency. As we saw in 2021, businesses without the right technology in place have paid dearly with inefciencies, delays, and errors—resulting in overburdened resources and increased costs. Looking ahead, asset management optimization through data-driven technology will serve as a critical competitive differentiator in 2022. Through accelerated adoption of asset management technology, businesses will realize efcient workows, reduced maintenance and repair costs, updated administrative processes, and end-to-end transparency. Hence, their customers will benet with critical equipment visibility that improves operational efciency while reducing out-of-service losses. In 2022, businesses will also bolster strategic planning efforts to strengthen their supply chain with the goal of “pandemic proong” their operations. As such, they require asset management technology that leverages data more than ever. This provides a complete and real-time picture of their assets as they move through the supply chain supported by predictive and actionable analytics to efciently make informed decisions. With robust EDI and open API tech philosophy, businesses are able to avoid data constraints that are being encountered elsewhere in the supply chain market.

Mark Robinson CEO, UPS Capital

CHOOSE YOUR PARTNERS CAREFULLY. With digitalization revolutionizing logistics and bringing about more efficient processes, information exchange, and visibility, we will see the industry shift into a careful

selection of partners based on their technological aptitude and insights. This will strongly be the case for Mexico since new tax regulations are forcing companies to adapt and optimize their processes in order to comply. Smaller carriers will struggle to comply with requirements when dealing directly with clients without the technical infrastructure of brokers. The accounting team of every logistics company will be put to the test and the ones that manage to leverage efficient and automated processes will avoid the crisis of on-time compliance for every shipment. From that angle, staying competitive will require a stricter filtering system of logistics partners and suppliers.

Anaid Chacón Head of Product, Nuvocargo

A warehouse is more than just a place to store merchandise—it’s an integral partner in your e-commerce strategy and your success as a business. It’s critical for brands to undertake a full audit of any potential new partners, and continually audit existing partners to ensure you get the performance you need.

Tom Martucci Chief Technology Ofcer Consolidated Intermodal Technologies (CIT)

Laura Lough Fulfillment and Logistics Partnership Director, Digital River

228 Inbound Logistics • January 2022