How the changes in Shipping will affect eCommerce

Since I joined the transport industry in 1997, I have seen a lot of things change. Back then imports from China into Australia only made up around 5% of the pie, Mum and Dad businesses were store fronts, everyone had a dumb phone and kids still played outside.

Fast forward 25 years and we can see Chinese imports make up almost 30%, Mum and Dad stores are online, everybody’s phone is smart, and the parks are empty, however, the biggest change in my opinion that directly affected transport was forcefully delivered by Covid in March 2020. This little-known illness condemned us into isolation for weeks and months at a time, with some states being locked down much longer than others, and what did the Federal Government do? they cashed everyone up. There is an old Turkish proverb, it is said that you shouldn’t be afraid of your child getting sick but be afraid of the change in behaviour that the sickness brings to your child. This couldn’t ring truer with the change in behaviour in the Australian public during the lockdown period.

The cashed-up public, stuck at home with not much to do started browsing for deals, and there were plenty. The regular onliners were going supersonic, irregular online shoppers were becoming regular shoppers, and plenty of people that had not transacted online previously purchased online for the first time in this period, and in the process learnt how easy it was. Not surprisingly the boom continues, with the annual Australia Post eCommerce Report releasing figures stating that the Retail foot traffic grew by 4.3% and online eCommerce by 23.4%. Our behaviour has changed…

So, what’s wrong with that? Covid did more than keep us under house arrest or show us that State Governments have more control than what we thought. It made us realise that how under prepared our domestic transport industry was.

The overnight explosion in volume and shipping needs forced businesses to look at their transport options to accommodate all the new requirements that came with new customers. Of course, the pressure placed on the Domestic Supply Chain wasn’t an issue for the average Joe sitting at home ordering a pair of shoes and wanting it in in a week, and nor should it be, however it was for the manufacturer of the goods that had to increase production to meet demand and was now shipping twice the amount of goods to the wholesaler, the wholesaler to the retailer, from the retailer into Joe’s hands, all in the time promised by the seller. So finding the correct carrier to meet the demand was more important than ever.

This created the perfect environment for Transport Management Companies (TMC’s). TMC’s offer businesses the choice of multiple carriers, with all service levels, customer service, insurance, and innovative advanced digital platforms that you can pull any level of data and connect to online Shopping Carts, WMS systems and inhouse API’s. The flexibility of choosing the best carrier by service or price, complimented with all the key words such as automation, simplicity and visibility came into play. Traditionally the TMC’s have looked after the SMEs in the domestic market, however the larger companies are now turning to TMC’s as well to see how they can benefit from the World of Choice, Automation and Simplicity.

We are seeing the face of transport changing in this country, and over the next 10 years I think we will see the domestic supply chain grow and improve in all the key areas because of customers demanding it. Either way I think that TMC’s will play a crucial role in the growth and improvement, and be a more dominant force in Australia’s supply chain in the years to come.

Ali Gencer

General Manager – World Options GH

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