At Liege last week for the 5th year on September 10-11 came the 2024 version of a local event that draws a large and interested group. Branded the EU Cross-Border E-Commerce Forum 2024, the gathering delivered a nice turnout with the always welcome signs of “sold out” for the two-day event with its wide-ranging agenda.
     Enthusiastic sponsorships from Challenge Cargo and others that offered facility tours, and of course Leige Airport that got right down to business with plenty of takeaway content why one benefits from doing business and shipping via Belgium.
     An outstanding group of people in that always welcome mixture of fun and business underscores the driving force of contact in this picture.
     A 10:00 hrs opening day boffo session moderated by Amar More Founder Kale Logistics Solutions tackeled “how e-commerce is embracing digital solutions.
     Underscoring the driving force of contact, an excellent panel went on the record and is pictured here post session from left: David M. Linford, Vice President Sales & Account Management-CHAMP Cargosystems; Amar More; Blanca Michelena, Aviñó, Key Account Manager-Making Science Italy; Nanne Onland, Co-founder and CEO E-Gateway Amsterdam; and Moritz Claussen, Founder & Co-CEO cargo.one. went on the record.
     During the session on “Increase customer expectations with more complex environment: How is e-commerce embracing digital solutions?”, this is what was discussed:
     •   e-commerce is the bright spot in air cargo with an annual growth rate of 20% and as an industry it is quickly becoming 20% of the total global air cargo market.
     •   e-commerce is all about buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. Technology is a sine quo non to make it happen.
     •   If we look at the demands of the e-commerce customers; those are:
               1.   personalized experiences,
               2.   instant solutions,
               3.   seamless transactions,
               4.   ethical sourcing
     •   In terms of digital solutions, we need to look at the front end technologies (facing the B2C or B2B users) and back end technologies that make the actual logistics/fulfilment happen.
     •   To meet the customer demands on front end the type of solutions are AI/ML for created customized user experience, social media tech, augmented realities to give customers a view of how the products will look on them, chatbots, frictionless e-payments.
     •   On the back end side, for the logistics, we need the cargo community systems which are common platforms that reduce the dwell times in the industry. Note that the average cross border transport times for air cargo are around 6 days, and the ecommerce industry expects it to be 72 days. So systems like Community platforms will help bridge that gap as the time spent in air won’t change significantly . It is the improvements that will happen on ground that will define the future.
     •   Also the traditional air cargo industry is geared to provide visibility at an air waybill level whereas in ecommerce you need systems that can give you an item or package level visibility.
     •   Also discussed was the impact of regulations (like reducing de-minimus, data privacy laws) and how technology can help in meeting these challenges.
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