Everything related to e-commerce is constantly experiencing monumental change. Some of the “change trends” include:
- New Service providers and improved service offerings directed at the consumer seem to be announced daily and you can’t deny that new technology and seemingly unlimited investment dollars are driving most of the change.
- Going vertical with the intent of controlling all parts of the e-commerce customer experience is driving competitors to enter-into services where they have limited or no direct expertise.
- Merchants, fulfillment, and delivery service providers suggesting that consumers are demanding ultra-fast solutions—such as 15-minute to 2-hour same-day delivery. This is about differentiating their offering to survive in the marketplace. However, the question begs, how practical are some of these service offerings that drive increased cost and seemingly endless losses for most of the new, VC-funded providers?
- Recent reports are telling us that, generally, e-commerce merchant profitability is trending downwards. While part of that condition is the result of intense competition, it is also driven by costly new service offerings that the consumer is not necessarily demanding.
Dean Maciuba is the Co-founding partner of Crossroads Parcel Consulting and contributing editor to the Newegg Logistics blog. This content has been republished with the permission of the author and Newegg Logistics, where the article originally appeared.
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