Internet and its constant changes in the logistics of companies

The internet, for many companies, is already another sales channel. Some have created websites and started selling directly to their customers, others have their products sold over the internet on the websites of large retailers. In this case, it was up to the big retailers to take on the responsibility of buying, reselling and delivering the products.

Now, depending on the website where the purchase is made, there are several options for suppliers for the same product, leaving the final consumer to choose who to buy from. This movement, in which the website is just the sales channel and the retailer no longer has the product in stock, will force companies to rethink their logistics.

In this new context, retailers no longer buy, they just advertise and sell products on their websites. This means that the sale was made by the retailer, but the responsibility for delivering to the final consumer will now fall to the industries.

Some retailers saw this as a new business and have been investing in having more robust logistics teams and, in some cases, buying transporters, as is the case with B2W and Via Varejo. This will allow these companies to sell not only the product but also the delivery logistics.

The producing companies will be obliged to rethink the logistics for several reasons. Some of them are:

– The stock, which used to belong to the retailer, is now owned by the industry. This implies having a higher value in stock and a larger storage area;
– Need for better sales planning, since now sales are no longer to large players, but to several consumers;
– Fractionated transport becomes more representative, with implications for costs and greater management.

The fact is that these changes are here to stay, and may even, in the not too distant future, become a reality for physical retail as well. In this, the stores would become just places of sale, mainly for those products in which the consumer does not want to leave with the merchandise.

It will be up to companies to adapt and prepare for these new challenges. So, is your company ready?