Shipping used to be a linear exercise. A manufacturer shipped products to a distribution center. From there, the products were delivered to stores who handed them to customers.
Much like a successful marriage, the relationship between a shipper and its logistics partner has to be mutually-beneficial, trust-based and productive. Without these qualities, one or both parties will quickly find themselves wondering why they entered into the agreement.
The role of e-commerce in keeping the United States and world economies going was never more evident than during the first half of 2020. Before the global pandemic and the lock-downs and shelter-in-place orders that followed, e-commerce comprised about 12 percent of U.S. retail sales. That percentage will grow dramatically in the years ahead. Consumers who once gathered in malls and stores to do their buying found that e-commerce had become their only buying source, almost overnight. Many who had never tried online purchasing found it easy and convenient. Retail will never be the same again. Never.