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South African e-commerce platforms are getting ready to handle over 240,000 inbound deliveries during the Black Friday online buying madness at the end of November, and that’s just from Shein and Temu.

With e-commerce demand already up 30% year to date, air cargo is expected to bear the brunt of this bonkers time of year.

The CEO of the South African Express Parcel Association, Garry Marshall, says that the online shipping industry has experienced “phenomenal growth” and currently imports over 1,000 shipments daily, most of which come from China. “There are big issues at the moment in terms of levelling the playing fields through duties, customs regulations and concessions”, the expectation is that it won’t stop sites like Shein and Temu.

However, despite ongoing concerns about import charges involving discount retail sites, it’s the expected Black Friday peak that signals “an unstoppable tsunami.”

“These issues would most likely be resolved because although the tax man has to take his chunk, it’s not going to stop e-commerce.”

In July alone, there were reported 37 million downloads of the Temu app alone, and someone is going to have to deliver all those bargain buys. In addition, the parcel industry is also getting ready to meet the e-commerce avalanche.

“Some of our members are gearing themselves up for the peak. At least one of our members is automating at a helluva rate.”

“Service providers analyse what their system is capable of. They understand what their constraints are in terms of volume, and so they plan for that. A lot of work goes into being able to restrict or control the volume in your system so that you don’t overload or collapse it.”

It’s not often that consumers think of how the rise in online shopping has changed the freight industry. Today, one can easily order a product from anywhere in the world, and expect delivery to your door. The logistics of getting that article to your door remains a mystery to most, and so we ‘add to cart’, oblivious to the number of people, ships, aeroplanes and delivery trucks involved.

South Africans purchase mostly from South African websites or online marketplaces, but 27% purchase from the United States, and 14% from Europe. Online sales increased by 66% from 2019 to 2020 to more than R30 billion, and shippers and forwarders have gone to great lengths to prepare for a future where this will only increase.

Berry & Donaldson, one of South Africa’s largest privately owned logistics companies has been helping importers and exporters navigate the labyrinth of international freighting for over half a century. Despite the changing landscape of shipping and customs, they continue to adapt to the times, and always get your freight to its destination on time.

[source:safreightnews]