COVID-19 and E-Commerce
Who can forget the great toilet paper debacle in early March when consumers rushed to stores for toilet paper and other essential items? Social media, newspapers, and TV news outlets showed picture after video of empty shelves in grocery and big box stores across the country. At the same time, e-commerce for toilet paper and other essential items went through the roof and created an increased demand for home delivery.
This isn’t new to final mile providers who have been responding to the Amazon effect for a while. In fact, according to Forbes’ Insights the rise of the Amazon effect is changing distribution patterns. “Customer demands for ever more rapid fulfillment are forcing businesses of all kinds to warehouse their goods ever closer to intermediate and end-customers.”
However, there is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reconfigure the way we do things. Now more than ever, consumers are shopping online. “According to new data from IBM’s U.S. Retail Index, the pandemic has accelerated the shift away from physical stores to digital shopping by roughly five years. Department stores, as a result, are seeing significant declines. In the first quarter of 2020, department store sales and those from other “non-essential” retailers declined by 25%. This grew to a 75% decline in the second quarter.”
Rapid Growth of E-Commerce to Continue
This rapid growth of e-commerce is creating supply chain disruptions as retail continues to move its goods from brick and mortar storefronts to warehouse facilities across the nation. Goods that once passed through a retailer’s distribution system for stores are now being routed through last-mile facilities for home delivery.
We can expect this to continue for a variety of reasons. COVID-19 has introduced a new segment of consumers to the possibilities and ease of e-commerce and home delivery. At the same time, consumers who preferred the in-person shopping experience have realized that shopping during a pandemic can be less-than-pleasant due to social distancing, staffing shortages, mask-wearing requirements, and stockouts. In addition, most consumers do not have the time to make a trip to the store only to find them out of inventory due to retailers using stores for their online fulfillment.
Last Mile Services at Blue Eagle Logistics
Here at Blue Eagle Logistics, we offer a variety of final mile and warehousing services designed to help busy forwarders, truckload and LTL carriers, and freight brokers meet the demands in an ever-changing landscape. With supply chain disruption a near-constant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, customers can count on the professionals at Blue Eagle Logistics.
With warehouse locations in Allentown and Scranton, Blue Eagle Logistics offers both first and final mile pickup and delivery in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania. Our team provides secure storage, accurate inventory counts, and speedy delivery.
Our expedited delivery experts ensure smooth operations. We can save you serious downtime and satisfy your customers whether you need charter, courier, dangerous goods, express, door-to-door, or high-value delivery. We can also help with large/oversize, medical and pharma, job-site, and threshold residential deliveries.
We maintain a modern GPS tracked fleet of liftgate-equipped straight trucks, trailers, and cargo vans to expedite your freight from our Allentown and Scranton warehouse facilities with regular airport service.
The experts at Blue Eagle Logistics are committed to the constant improvement of last-mile services. If you and your customers are experiencing delays and difficulties in last-mile delivery, please give us a call at Blue Eagle Logistics today.