E-commerce is the new face of business and logistics. As we can even see that the increasing popularity and success of e-commerce is great and thus it has meant a parallel change in the existing support structures in place to facilitate the retail system.
It is necessary to evolve!!
Traditional business models as well as traditional supply chain systems are evolving to accommodate this new way of doing business. It is important for business models and supply
chains to facilitate and encourage customers. We have seen several changes and implementations in the supply chain models but they are not enough, more upgradations are required.
E-commerce has altered the structure of the following:
● Sellers
Some new sellers in the market are entirely online. Maybe because they find it easy to control their business and it saves time a lot. Other than that they enjoy a lot more flexibility as there is no physical retail presence. It has been seen in many cases that the new system allows the seller to be both a retailer and a distribution and fulfillment center.
● Location Flexibility
Because having an online business store and presence, online retailers do not need to be overly concerned with the location of their operation, they enjoy a lot more flexibility in choosing a place that allows them to minimize costs.
● Tracking
This single word comes with great advantages and features that supply chains get through e-commerce. Because of the online presence, one can easily track products and goods just by using a desktop or smartphone. There is no use of paper records and any other paperwork as everything is online so bills, product status, live tracking can be done with just one click.
● Parcel hubs and Delivery Channels
Parcel hubs or sortation centers are points where the outgoing parcels are divided based on destinations so that they can be sent to the parcel delivery centers. The parcel delivery center is the last stage before the package reaches the customer.
