Logistics Trends After COVID-19

9/16/20

Have you seen a demand for faster delivery options by your customers?

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Per RedwoodLogistics, during the COVID-19 quarantine, most people have been doing all of their shopping online. Even groceries and medications are being shipped, within a few miles of a consumer’s home. Since customers can’t get that instant gratification of going to a store, they’re even more eager to have fast delivery to their home. One of several key trends that will remain after COVID-19 is that there will be an even larger demand for faster delivery options.

Read more in our latest blog post below.

We all know that the pandemic has had significant impacts to supply chains and logistics globally. In the Detroit area, manufacturers and suppliers have continued to adjust to meet the changing needs of customers. So what impacts can we expect to see on logistics post pandemic? RedwoodLogistics shared their top 5 new logistics trends they anticipate to see after COVID-19 summarized below.

1 – Globalization Will Take a Back Seat

Prior to 2020, international trade was considered the best way for many businesses to source and produce items while maintaining a strong global market. However, since the shut down of borders to trade and travel since COVID-19, businesses have shifted, at least temporarily, to sourcing and producing local goods.

For logistics, this means there’s going to be an emphasis on more local shipping and movements. We’ll likely see an increase in demand for trains and trucks across North America, which may put a deeper load on an already overloaded transport system. This is thus calling for changes in the way we can optimize freight movement to ensure every truck is full, drivers are happy, and logistical resources are being used most efficiently

2 – Buyers are More Price-Conscious

With such a major economic shutdown, a lot of people are focusing more on how they can save money in any way they can. As far as logistics trends are concerned, this is one that is always fairly constant. People are looking for deals and are willing to wait until the price is right to get what they want, like waiting for free shipping or sales from their favorite companies.

A lot of businesses have decided to offer free or low-cost shipping as an incentive to keep consumers purchasing from them. For shippers and transport companies, this means they’ll likely start to see a lot of their clients looking for lower shipping prices. We anticipate a new wave of long-term, low-cost contracts between retailer and shipping partners looking to push a greater quantity of goods at even cheaper costs.

3 – Logistics will be Driven by Automation

Automation is the wave of the future in logistics. This isn’t news to anyone; supply chains have been moving towards automation-driven efficiency for a while. Now, though, it’s going to be even more critical than ever, and the push will be even stronger than before.

Route optimization and reduced errors are going to be necessary in a world of local shipping and price consciousness. AI learning and the Internet of Things are the best way to ensure that resources are used most effectively to get goods delivered fast, on time, and with as little expenditure as possible. Also more people are realizing now that they want flexibility in their work. which means robots can step in to perform on-demand tasks. Now is the time for companies to start implementing automation throughout the supply chain.

4 – There Will be an Even Larger Demand for Faster Delivery Options

People want cheaper shipping, while at the same time demanding faster delivery. During the COVID-19 quarantine, most people have been doing all of their shopping online. Since customers can’t get that instant gratification of going to a store, they’re even more eager to have fast delivery to their home.

Despite the price consciousness, a lot of customers are actually willing to pay a premium for fast delivery services on certain types of items, especially personal care productions. Expectations for shipping have changed: people want fast, low cost, and at their door right when they want it. This means speed and cost need to be balanced and optimized.

5 – Risk Management Will Dictate the Supply Chain
COVID-19 has shown many organizations just how unprepared and vulnerable they are. Risk management firms have become the most popular B2B business and logistics trends recently as companies are looking for new ways to create flexible and agile businesses with an emphasis on resilience and hazard management. For a lot of companies, this means better handling of potential upstream disruptions by diversifying their sources and transport contractors. It could also mean anything from employing more robots to implementing disaster plans.

In summary, RedwoodLogistics suggests that when and how quickly the economy can restart will impact the way the freight market will move and recover. Companies will need to get ahead of these logistics trends in order to keep up.