Reducing delivery times of products sold through digital channels and maintaining different supply and distribution options to face scenarios of trade restrictions are some of the challenges that companies face in this new business reality.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
In Central America during 2020, companies had to adjust quickly to the demands arising from the health crisis caused by the covid-19 outbreak, as restrictions on consumer mobility and face-to-face sales were continuous.
In this context of changing habits, in which e-commerce gained ground in the region's markets, supply chains were tested and companies were forced to learn as they went along.
For Diego Barreto, a specialist in operations strategy, "... with the growth of digital channels, the ability to return items in a simple way for the customer becomes more important to build confidence in these transactions. Other businesses can generate savings and minimize their environmental impact by recovering packaging and raw materials to circulate in their production."
The article published by Barreto in Sintec.com details that "... customers in the digital era want to receive their products quickly without paying too much for shipping to their home. To meet this demand, some businesses such as Pedidos Ya have established Dark Stores (Efficient Distribution Centers), where they can fulfill their customers' orders more efficiently."
The specialist adds that "... the use of digital and intelligent tools, such as inventory optimization with predictive analytics, become more important in order to make quick and informed decisions in the face of changing demand conditions".
Small warehouses located in strategic locations that serve to quickly distribute the merchandise sold online, are the type of properties that in this context of new business reality have gained ground.
When analyzing the Guatemalan market, it is reported that one of the geographic regions in which the productive activity of this sector is increasing is composed of Villa Nueva, Villa Canales and San Miguel Petapa, municipalities of the department of Guatemala that are located south of the capital of the country. This area is a commercial node that has developed quickly in recent years.
Due to restrictions on mobility, the increase in online shopping and changes in consumer habits, the volume of international and local package movements in Costa Rica is showing an upward trend.
Due to the spread of covid-19, Costa Rican authorities decided to restrict people's mobility and impose social distancing measures. These factors were determining factors for consumers to begin changing their purchasing habits.
Given the need to understand customer behavior in the digital environment, together with the urgency for companies to promote remote work, an ideal scenario has been created for the demand for cloud services to increase exponentially.
The spread of covid-19 caused a considerable change in people's habits.
The abrupt change in consumer habits forced companies to digitalize their operations and sales, but the challenges do not stop there, as companies will have to implement effective logistics systems to reach their customers.
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