DHL and the Cranfield School of Management issued a white paper on 26 February 2018 which investigates and highlights trends and potential in international e-commerce for business to business (B2B) trades. The white paper discusses the growth of cross-border business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce and forecasts there will be substantial growth in cross-border B2C trading within the next few years.
More about the DHL and Cranfield School of Management White Paper
Ken Allen, the CEO of DHL Express, commented that the company had seen "B2C e-commerce grow at a faster pace than most other industry sectors in recent years, with premium cross-border shipments growing from 10% to more than 20% of the volumes of DHL Express." He added that the study "shows there is the same potential for cross-border B2B e-commerce to grow at a dynamic pace, and the DHL Express network will be an enabler of that for businesses around the world."
The white paper gives practical guidelines on the relevant digital features and strategies that are being used by companies that have adopted cross-border e-commerce and provides a framework for businesses that plan to target this market to give understanding and a benchmark to measure their own levels of development within cross-border e-commerce. Five categories of features that are essential for the success of B2B e-commerce platforms are identified in the paper. These are customer experience, digital infrastructure, customer personalisation, synchronised logistics and seamless integration.
It is anticipated that cross-border B2B transactions will soar to a level of $1.2 trillion within the coming five years. Companies wanting to take advantage of this potential increase to business trading will need to adapt website functionalities, such as product catalogues and live customer support services, while ensuring an integrated process and end-to-end logistics procedures. Companies looking for opportunities within the B2C cross-border section should look to adopt flexible and mobile customer service interfaces that will meet the sophisticated expectations of B2C online shopping consumers.
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