Parcelly attended the 9th Annual European Ecommerce Conference in Brussels, where our CEO joined a high-profile debate on innovative delivery solutions.
The conference explored 'what the current Ecommerce landscape looks like in Europe, how it is expected to develop, and what key opportunities are emerging for all players of the sectors to address the existing challenges.' Ecommerce plays a major role in European socio-economic growth and is now a fundamental part of the way people and companies buy products, services and do business. To realise its full potential in Europe though, existing barriers, both crossborder and within member states need to continue to be removed.
With over 140 international C-Suite attendees, the conference explored the following topics:
- Which technological innovations will have the largest impact on all of the players in the Ecommerce sector
- How Ecommerce platforms and retailers can keep meeting the demands of increasingly tech-savvy consumers
- How payments services providers are innovating to offer convenient and secured solutions
- What the parcel delivery sector can do remain fit for the future of Ecommerce
- How can policy-makers and industry players work together to respond appropriately to constant waves of innovation and disruption
…all in the context of current policy solutions being developed with the aim of achieving a successful European Digital Single market.
Our highly anticipated panel session 'Realising Ecommerce’s potential through innovative logistics, supply chain management and delivery solutions' was moderated by Jack Hamande, Chairman and Executive Board Member of ERGP. We have summarised key statements below:
Mark Harrison, Head of Markets at International Post Corporation, presented the IPC cross-border e-commerce shopper survey 2017, which included an overview of the main trends in the postal industry. His summary provided a comprehensive analysis of the trends and drivers shaping cross-border e-commerce, delivery preferences, experiences of frequent cross-border online shoppers and global trends within the postal industry. "On average, 70% of frequent cross-border online shoppers buy online at least once per month" explained Mark, "Consumers want the same experience in cross-border as domestic. 62% of consumers cross-border got free delivery in 2017."
Alexandra Ben Samoun, Deputy Director of European and Trade Affairs at DPD Group presented the results of the latest E-shopper barometer, covering a broad range of findings with regards to crossborder, delivery and returns, millennials, small and heavy buyers and type of goods. '54% of European E-shoppers have already bought online from foreign websites in 2017, mostly from China (44%)' reported Alexandra. Further to this, 'crossborder Ecommerce is supported by innovation. That’s why DPD Group launched several services such as Predict in the UK in 2008, Pickup parcel shop network in 2009, and Precise in the UK and France in 2017”. Innovation for Tier 1 carriers is key, particularly as “DPD Group is the (current) #1 in intra EU road-based crossborder flows in Europe, having delivered 134m parcels by this means in 2017, within a total of 1.2bn delivered parcels”.
Lorenzo Calcagni, COO at FLOWERBX explained the needs of luxury brands and Ecommerce market players with examples and insides from one of Europes fastest growing flower delivery startup: 'As COO, my main concern is finding a delivery partner guaranteeing scalability and reliability to my flowers, which are extremely vulnerable products' and 'customers are keen to pay more to have more options'.
Parcelly's very own CEO Sebastian presented how 'Ecommerce's potential can be achieved through Omni-channel excellence'. Comparing the conventional delivery model on the basis of latest market research*, with a balance between cost and delivery speed versus today's new delivery reality. Sebastian set side by side the demands of the digital enabled customer and the changing consumer expectations with the latest digital technology trends and retailer and delivery solutions.
As a result, UK market numbers draw a clear picture: 'Retail and delivery experience continue to converge' as '86% of UK online shoppers consider delivery part of their shopping experience'. At the same time, '76% of UK shoppers say they'll shop with a retailer again if the shipping experience is great' and '54% of shoppers in the UK would buy from an online competitor when the delivery service they seek isn't provided'. Identifying 'click&collect as one of the fastest growing categories on the wider logistics market', Sebastian reported that '74% of UK shoppers desire click&collect as a delivery option at check-out' while only '47% of retailers would offer this option'.
A clear lack of carrier agnostic, technologically advanced, dynamic and scalable service options can be regarded as the main reason why the business model Parcelly invented and introduced to the UK market in 2014 has not only scaled into a nationwide network of courier agnostic PUDO locations in more than 52 UK cities, but also, why it has been adopted and replicated by tier 1 market players such as CollectPlus and Doddle and an uncounted number of smaller startups all around the globe.
The session ultimately concluded that 'consumers want to be in control of the whole delivery process' and 'innovative solutions in parcel delivery thanks to innovation is a reality!"
Joe Rossiter, Event Executive at Forum Global added: "Gaining the perspective of Parcelly in our panel session on the subject of ‘Realising Ecommerce’s potential through innovative logistics, supply chain Management and delivery solutions’ provided an intriguing outlook on the direction of innovation in the logistics and delivery sector. Sebastian posed a counterpoint to the standpoints of market-leading businesses and challenged the assumptions held within the field. Sebastian’s presentation and subsequent engagement in our panel discussion certainly caught the attention of the assembled audience. We would like to thank Parcelly for their valuable contribution to the conference."
The full agenda of the day is accessible HERE. For additional conference insights, check our Twitter feed for snippets during the day (#EcomConf)!
We had a fantastic time at the conference and would like to thank the organisers for hosting us and already inviting us to participate again in the coming year.... #parcellove
*Research sources included: Temando, Barclays, IMRG and Accenture
