Ninja Van Malaysia: Logistics sector must keep up with e-commerce trends
11 Apr 2022
The Malaysian logistics industry will have to look at developing its infrastructure and changing operating models to catch up with the five e-commerce trends in 2022, comprising third-party logistics (3PL) services, direct-to-consumer (D2C) fulfilment, optimising last-mile logistics, sustainability, and technology, according to Ninja Van Malaysia.
“We constantly invest in infrastructure and new services to support a sustainable long-term cost structure and ensure quality and consistency of our operations for shippers and shoppers,” the logistic company’s CEO, Adzim Halim, told SunBiz.
To respond to those shifts, the company launched a 260,000 sq ft new warehouse to future-proof its volume growth trajectory and better support the growth of local small and medium enterprises (SME) and businesses for 3PL services.
“The warehouse is equipped with sorting machines that can process up to 400,000 parcels daily from all over the country, and this figure more than doubles during peak periods,” he said.
On addressing D2C fulfilment, it has established 30 self-owned stores across Klang Valley to offer three types of services for customers including B2C, C2C, and pick up and drop off. In addition, it partners with retail outlets such as TedBoy Bakery, Mailboxes, and Health Lane Family Pharmacy as collection points.
“We understand that shoppers are conscious and prefer to support environmentally responsible companies, we are exploring opportunities to use eco-friendly packaging.
“Also, we use proprietary technology for our systems to ensure a smoother and hassle-free delivery experience for customers such as Application Programming Interface in our tracking systems and NinjaChat, an AI-powered social messaging service,” Adzim said.
It saw the shift in consumer needs and demands, as existing shoppers ordered more online and new users tried online shopping for the first time.
E-commerce is also becoming more localised as online businesses and customers prefer to sell and buy domestically rather than internationally, Ninja Van Malaysia observed.
Adzim attributed the phenomenon to two factors – local merchants prefer selling goods already available in Malaysia to importing from China, and customers prefer to purchase home-grown brands to help them bounce back from the pandemic.
According to a market report entitled Malaysia Fright and Logistics Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2019-2024), with the growth of the logistics industry and the rise of e-commerce in the country, companies are capitalising on this emerging trend.
“The interest of the companies in emerging areas, such as cold chain logistics, last-mile delivery services, and others, are growing, due to the high margins and rising demand. The economy is expected to grow between 5% and 6%, driving the growth of the logistics industry further,” the report read.
Source: The Sun Daily
