Over the past few years, the Philippine market witnessed the expansion of the FMCG sector, retail sector, and E-commerce industry which have aided to the extraordinary growth of the freight forwarding and logistics industry in the region. Also, the Philippine market is gaining popularity among many foreign players with the introduction of flexible policies by the government to boost economic growth. This has further aided the demand in the freight forwarding market. According to a report, the Philippine freight and logistics market is estimated to be valued at USD 15.6 Million in 2021. It is expected to reach USD 23.7 Million by 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 7.23% during the forecast period (2022-2027).
Even though there is high growth potential in the sector, the industry in the country is still highly fragmented. It needs to focus on providing operational excellence with more data-oriented solutions, visibility and timely customer support to adhere consumers’ expectations. Now that we are at the end of the year, like it or not, we must reassess our previous 365 days and figure out what worked and what didn’t. Given the promising growth potential in the sector, it is high time you plan and strategize your freight forwarding business strategy to grab the maximum market share in 2023 and beyond.
So, did you come up with any New Year resolutions to improve as a freight forwarder and logistics service provider? Here are a few of my recommendations that you may want to include in your New Year resolutions bucket lists.
Evaluate your growth possibilities – Evaluate your strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) concerning your current and previous year’s mode of operations by asking the following questions.
• How is your business different from competitors?
• What is your unique selling proposition?
• What do your customers say about you?
• In what areas do you need to improve?
• What are your customers’ expectations?
• Do you have freight forwarding and logistics software in place to cater to the current need of the customers?
• What are your strategies to generate new customers and explore new markets?
Explore digital Transformation – If you are already not using an integrated freight forwarding software and working on a spread sheet or Tally or using disparate software, then at the verge of this New Year, think again. By automating freight forwarding, you can provide customers with a more efficient and cost-effective service while reducing operational costs. Digitization of the freight operations helps manage the complex process efficiently and in the streaming workflow. Freight software automates and integrates various functions, such as sales, customer support, inland logistics management, fleet or vehicle management, shipping (outbound & inbound), container management, billing & accounting, vendor management and warehouse management in one single platform. Moreover, digital freight ERP like Logi-Sys also facilitates peer-to-peer collaboration and exchanging data and documents between stakeholders with complete security.
Understand your changing customer behavior – In recent times, it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is. The thing customers are most likely going to remember is the experience they have with your company. So, try to understand how your customers experience is doing. Are you able to meet customer expectations of fast delivery at a minimum cost and provide real-time visibility status of their shipments? The right freight software can improve the tracking of shipment status, and route planning by identifying patterns in delivery times and improving security.
Grab the right opportunities to grow – The eCommerce market in the Philippines is projected to grow by 16.25% (2022-2027), resulting in a market volume of US$38.04bn in 2027. This will eventually push the freight forwarding and logistics market to see high demand. And, as a freight forwarding company, you can grab the maximum share by ensuring customer satisfaction with successful on-time and accurate deliveries.
In a nutshell, the coming year is all set to be eventful for the Philippines freight forwarding market, and all you need to do is to evolve with changing trends. So let us welcome 2023 with the resolution to digitize freight operations to drive maximum productivity and profitability.
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