The E-Commerce Supply Chain

E-commerce represents a powerful sales channel and growth opportunity for businesses that’s forcing companies – both B2C and B2B – to rethink their overall sales and distribution strategies. But as it continues to gain in importance and influence, businesses must quickly solve their supply chain challenges to ensure they capture available business value. The push to adopt and excel in e-commerce presents both challenges and opportunities for businesses that integrate e-commerce into an overarching omnichannel sales strategy.

E-commerce has outgrown its ‘infancy’ and is rapidly moving into second-stage maturity. At the core of this stage is an effective e-commerce supply chain that can constantly evolve and adapt to solve the challenges posed by this fast-growing business channel.

To help companies understand the imperatives for capturing business value, DHL Supply Chain conducted a global survey on the evolution of e-commerce supply chains in the B2B and B2C markets. The survey captured the opinions and insights of nearly 900 decision-makers responsible for logistics/supply chain management and e-commerce distribution strategy across the globe. Respondents hailed from all the major industry sectors, including retail, consumer goods, life sciences, high tech, auto and engineering & manufacturing.

We wanted to learn:

• How far have companies come in building the next-generation supply chain?
  
• Are companies’ supply chains agile enough to support rapid growth?
• What are the biggest e-commerce challenges facing companies today?
• What types of supply chain strategies, networks and operating models are employed today, and how will these change in the next three to five years?