Continued growth of e-commerce spending in 2024 will spell out good conditions for logistics companies in coming months, according to a business trends forecast from logistics service provider DHL eCommerce.
Despite cautious consumer spending because of rising prices, e-commerce remains strong with an expected low to mid-single-digit growth in 2024, Weston, Florida-based DHL eCommerce said in its “2024 E-tailers’ Almanac.” Proof of that progress was seen in a “solid” 2023 peak holiday shopping season that signaled an increase in consumer spending confidence on purchases of low-cost items (<$100 in value), primarily apparel, many of which are shipping inbound into the U.S. via air freight from Asia.
Logistics companies will benefit from that economy, even as the sector transforms. New, smaller regional logistics providers entered the shipping arena after the pandemic, giving large, established logistics shippers additional competition in the U.S. market, DHL said. But as some of the up-and-coming new players have exited the market, the established companies that invested heavily in automation, robotics, capacity to handle more volume, and aggressive pricing during the pandemic have emerged stronger than ever.
However, logistics providers will need that strength in order to adapt to the shifting needs of e-tailers, DHL said. Online merchants spent 2023 focused on the priorities of cost, reliability, and speed, but 2024 is showing a noticeable shift toward quality and speed gaining prominence over cost. This shift can be attributed to online merchants looking to expand their businesses through an increased focus on time-definite delivery options.
But one thing will not change in that evolution—the continued importance of human employees despite the rising volume of conversation about artificial intelligence (AI), DHL said. That message comes even as AI chatbots become more common tools to improve customer service response rates, agent productivity, and ticket management. Although chatbots can help with consumer queries, lightweight parcel e-tailers in the U.S. still prefer a personal human customer experience to help resolve their logistics and transport queries, DHL said.
