DHL Logistics Trend Radar 2014 Foresees significant changes to the logistics industry in the near future
DHL has published the second edition of its Logistics Trend Radar with extended content. The current report builds on the first issue, portraying the recent development of trends already identified in 2013 and introducing new trends to complete the picture. The report sketches a future landscape for logistics professionals and challenges they will face, but also outlines solutions that are in development, e.g. for multi-channel retailing or predictive purchasing.
“The logistics industry is undergoing rapid and profound changes”, says Matthias Heutger, Senior Vice President Strategy, Marketing and Development, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. “With the Logistics Trend Radar, we created a dynamic tool, inspiring us and others to derive innovative solutions in the world of logistics.”
New trends the report highlights include:
Omni-Channel Logistics: The integration of different offline and online shopping channels making use of interactive eTags with personalized content and integrating social media and mobile devices
Anticipatory logistics: The big data analysis of customer product searches, shopping histories, wish-lists and even cursor movements in order to send a shipment even before the customer places an order
Crypto Payment: Universal payment systems that allow global cross-currency payments to clear in seconds, support any unit of value (frequent flyer miles, mobile minutes etc.) and make room for new pricing models e.g. via micropayments
The new Trend Radar follows the established format, identifying individual trends and putting them into perspective in terms of disruptive potential and impact on a scale from short to long term. Suggestions on how to tackle the challenge and on the benefits for corporations and retail customers complete the picture.
The Trend Radar report serves as a panoramic 360 degree view across the whole breadth of the logistics landscape. Based on this overview the DHL Trend Research team will further explore selected trends in a deep dive format, based on research in cooperation with customers, research institutes and industry experts. “We combine our comprehensive expertise with input from academia and other partners”, says Markus Kückelhaus, Director Trend Research at DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. “The Logistics Trend Radar is the ideal starting point for logistics professionals wanting to prepare their business for future challenges.”
Finally, the report’s findings form the basis of the hands-on experience in Deutsche Post DHL’s Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Germany and find their way into prototype and pilot innovations.
The report is available for free
download at www.dhl.com/trendradar
