COVID-19 has all but delivered the coup de grâce to the traditional storefront model of commerce. Even after quarantine and lockdown restrictions are lifted, we can expect to see continued growth for -e-commerce. Now, especially, shippers and retailers are struggling to maintain an influx of new inventory to replace diminished stock. Rolling straight from a pandemic scenario into the holiday rush season will constrict available capacity to a choke point. With new surges of pandemic cases around the world, vendors will also have to contend with maintaining their day-to-day stock, in addition to their seasonal offerings, further complicating capacity constraints.
Already we are seeing container shipments being turned down because there is no available space. We expect this trend to continue well after the holiday season, likely indefinitely, as more and more retailers are turning to e-commerce models to meet their customers needs. Shippers will need to step up their game and incorporate high visibility solutions into their supply chains immediately if they want to survive.
Given the e-commerce boom and the likelihood that it will continue to grow exponentially as time progresses, supply chain visibility will remain a strong growth sector in the years to come. Retailers and e-tailers alike will face numerous challenges due to large returns in inventory management, just-in-time manufacturing, and a need for heightened operational efficiencies. Even if applied solely to detention and demurrage charges, two of the greatest operational cost pain points for shippers, visibility technology offers a substantial return on investment. In addition to indirect cost savings opportunities created through higher levels of visibility, there is also a gain in operational efficiency for supply chain operations. With the two combined, we will continue to see a rise in demand for supply chain visibility technologies.