Metis Advisory

Helping international companies in emerging markets.

Archives for January 2016

Reverse Logistics Shines Spotlight on the Consumer

Reverse Logistics Shines Spotlight on the Consumer

The package you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived, but when you open it up it’s not what you want. So you return the package and you get your money back without incurring additional costs. Done.

Not so much for delivery companies and merchants.

Reverse logistics, as this return, cancellation, and exchange process is referred to in the industry, is oftentimes more difficult to efficiently manage than the original order. In previous years, logistics companies worked closely with eCommerce merchants to primarily handle B2B and B2C deliveries. However, more recently, the C2B and C2C types of shipments are no longer niche markets – C2C alone makes up about 40%-50% of eCommerce shipments in China, according to Alan Wong, Group VP of SF Express, one of the largest domestic logistics company in China.

Consumers are increasingly becoming more important and holding more power to influence the shipping experience than ever before. Large eLogistics companies such as SF Express are shifting focus, from viewing the merchant as their primary customer to viewing the consumer as their primary customer. This shift has produced more consumer-based services that better facilitate B2C, C2C, and C2B transactions.

In densely populated urban areas such as Hong Kong, retail stores with long opening hours are strategically located around residential areas. Where retail space is at a premium, twenty-four hour service kiosks with password-protected lockers are being set up. Consumers have the option to choose between quick deliveries or slower, more economical options. The consumer has visibility and control over the shipment through his or her smartphone. Even more, in China, the consumer can receive the picture of the courier who will deliver the package. Cash on Delivery (COD) is becoming increasingly more popular because the consumer wants to open the package with the courier still there before paying for the product.

There is no single silver bullet to solve the eLogistics problem, much less reverse logistics. A combination of different solutions and a willingness to listen to the consumer will propel the companies managing the world’s logistics problem into the future.

Balance Between Convenience and Privacy

Balance Between Privacy and Convenience >> Metis Adivisory

There is a constant push and pull between convenience and privacy, especially in an era when 3.27 billion people are using the Internet. As smart phones become smarter, location-based services (LBS) are poised to make our lives a lot easier…but at what cost?

Before answering that beast of a question for the general population, there are subsets within our society that can greatly benefit from LBS. For example, an elderly person who looks up and can’t remember where he is, how he got there, and even who he is. Or a child who has inadvertently wandered away from the group on a class trip. Or a visually-impaired person navigating the local subway system. All of these groups of people can benefit from accurate LBS built in to their daily lives.

Low power, low cost technology is already being sewn into material for tracking uniforms and linens for hospitals and hotels. These types of advances in wearable technology will make finding a missing person or child that much easier.

Barrier Free Access, a wholly owned social enterprise of The Hong Kong Society for the Blind, is currently working with Hong Kong MTR to embed RFID chips into their marked pathways and walls. Corresponding chips in mobility canes will enable the visually impaired to more easily navigate public transportation without also having to hold a smart phone.

As companies find ways to enhance our lives through the Internet of Things, perhaps a gradual approach to adopting LBS will give society time to figure out the right balance between convenience and privacy.