A report released this year by renowned economist and trade expert Dr Rebecca Harding, and sponsored by Amazon Freight, UK and DE Freight Trends: 2024 and Beyond, examined the specific pressures that face supply chain decision-makers, uncovering the impact on global logistics and the road ahead.
Obstacles to efficiency
When asked about the main challenges of 2023, 31% of freight decision-makers cited cross-border movements, while 50% said customer experience had suffered in part because of this. Across all businesses surveyed, only 3% of freight decision makers didn’t experience budget reductions in 2023.
32% were affected by the need to keep up with technological change and 100% of respondents believed tech will help them manage their logistics challenges, adopting new technology in 2023 to support these matters.
Driving efficiency
Businesses handled challenges and drove efficiency by optimising their investments. In 2024, close to a third (29%) of freight logistic decision-makers saw warehouse efficiency as the most viable option for boosting customer satisfaction, while 31% of respondents said software management was key to supporting growth and efficiency.
Investment in tech workers and sales staff within the UK saw a 35% increase, while 40% of enterprise respondents chose to invest in tracking, delivery, and inbound freight co-ordination. However, nearly half (46%) of companies reduced their spending on advanced warehouse management systems, while 36% relied on pushing up sales performances to solve logistics challenges.
Freight professionals remain focused on getting the most ROI as their working capital is reduced or threatened. Moving forward, SMBs will be focused on hiring and retaining the right HGV drivers to insure themselves against future market instability.
The road ahead
Looking to the future, all the respondents also said they were confident that tech can help them to address impending challenges, highlighting freight software management as a key priority for supporting growth and efficiency.
Amazon Freight is at the forefront of innovating freight technology for more efficient and sustainable logistics.
Read the report in full to get the whole story.
