April 4th 2012

E-Commerce

Assignment topic:
Impact of E-commerce on transport and logistics

Table of content

1. Introduction 3 2. E-commerce and business 4 A. B2C E-commerce 4 B. B2B E-commerce 5 C. Evolution and forecast of E-commerce 5 3. Impacts on the supply chain 6 A. Problem raised by E-commerce 6 i. Demand 6 ii. Stocks 6 iii. Communication 6 B. Reaction and adaptation of companies 7 i. Information interchange 7 ii. Pure players 7 iii. Click and mortars 8 4. Upstream Logistics 9 A. Order reception and preparation 9 B. Transport and traceability 10 5. Conclusion 11

1. Introduction

Since 2000 a lot of factors have changed the face of logistics in companies. Many were forced to change their …show more content…

Under a very strong growth, the B2B market is not homogenous regarding the level of access to information technology and communication. Indeed after the 2003 report of “E-business watch”, there is a strong gap between SME’s under 50 employees and the major European corporations. It is important to realize that only one third of the companies purchase on Internet. The obstacles to the electronic exchanges are understood by the necessity of prior to purchase face-to-face negotiation and the frequent absence of online store from suppliers.

As previously noted, Internet is not the only electronic transaction tool in use. In the contrary EDI’s come first in that domain. Companies that adopted Just In Time production strategies are depending on this type of system as this strategy strongly increases the amount of required transaction. The EDI systems allow “zero paper” policies and a very strong reduction of human operations in the data processing tasks, therefore increasing their fluidity and their reliability.
EDI insure a constant cooperation between the supplier and the clients, optimizing the deliver lead-times and the accession to the needs of the last ones.

B2B e-commerce is more subject to economies of scale when it comes to delivery to the clients warehouse. Companies are usually strategizing and mutualizing their purchases as a constant way to reduce costs and maximize profits.

E-commerce market places, such as Alibaba.com, are some of