Home Delivery World 2016 Conference Recap

Home Delivery World wrapped up its fourth annual conference last week in Atlanta, and SEKO Logistics was there yet again to sponsor, exhibit, and speak on the trends that are happening right now in home delivery.

“SEKO has sponsored Home Delivery World from the beginning. With trends in home delivery constantly and rapidly changing, this show really provides one of the best forums for retailers to stay ahead of the curve. This is especially true when it comes to White Glove Deliveries and changing trade regulations; topics we covered in our seminars this year.”

Investing in Digital Marketing and Tightening Delivery Windows

Day one opened with keynote speakers from Home Depot and Descartes, discussing the trends that they have noted and are attempting to adapt to in 2016. With the customer buying experience constantly changing and becoming more personal, there is a pressing need to better understand how these customers shop, and what needs to be done to meet their expectations and provide better service. 

Home Depot stated that they will spend more on digital marketing and ecommerce in 2016 than any other type of content or advertising. While this may seem like a strange strategy for a brand with so many brick and mortar locations, their focus will be on adapting their website to accommodate the need for customer independence online, while driving those customers into their physical stores.

Descartes was also in attendance to speak about the importance of shrinking delivery windows. With home deliveries becoming more of an “on demand” experience, customers are no longer satisfied with an 8 hour delivery window. Even when customers choose the cheapest form of delivery, there is an expectation that they will have some control over the timing of the delivery as well as real-time communication on the status of the order.

"Consumers are happier with a 2 hour window you miss by 15 minutes than an all day window you hit every time"

Customer delivery updates should be a 5-part cycle: Confirm, Notify, Track, Deliver, and Survey

US De Minimus Changes – Brian Bourke, VP of Marketing

SEKO’s VP Marketing, Brian Bourke, spoke to attendees in both a seminar and a roundtable setting about the recent bill passed to raise the US de minimus rate from $200 to $800. This change will lower duty costs on all Crossborder eCommerce, which is expected to jump from its 15% mark in 2015, to 30% by 2020. For U.S. Imports, retailers can source and ship direct from their origin with no duties for orders under $800. The number of questions coming in at the end of Brian’s talks on this subject showed that this is clearly a change at the forefront of the industries mind. The passing of this bill will influence the way retailers ship from international origins, creating new opportunities for retailers to ship into the US, and we imagine this will be a welcome change in the world of home delivery over the coming months.

International consolidations were also on the agenda, with a rise in companies looking to 3PLs as an alternative to only using parcel and express carriers such as UPS and FedEx.  This is due to the fact that 3PLs can provide more value added services, such as labelling, pick and pack, and custom branded tracking that is carrier neutral for crossborder ecommerce delivery solutions. 

Also discussed was SOLAS, the as yet little known regulation to be brought in on July 1st.  With 90% of world trade dependent on ocean freight, this extra step in the process is going to have an enormous influence on the industry, and it will be interesting to see how shippers and ports respond to the challenge.  

"On July 1, 2016, a new regulation from SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea convention of the International Maritime Organization or IMO) takes effect requiring shippers whose name appears on the bill of lading to verify the gross mass of a container carrying cargo when tendering the container to the ocean carrier's terminals." - Journal of Commerce ( www.joc.com) 

It's worth noting that the port of LA has already stated that they will not have the space to weight containers for compliance.  The timing - right before peak season - adds an additional challenge to the entire retail industry. 

White Glove Delivery – Tom McIntyre, Senior Director of B to C Sales

On day two of the conference, Senior Director of Global Sales Solutions Tom McIntyre led a roundtable discussion on White Glove Delivery. Tom had the opportunity to sit down with some vendors and retailers at the show, and had great attendance for his talk on the importance of working with great agents, the trends in scheduled deliveries, and how to set up a successful white glove operation. This is an area of home delivery that is constantly changing, due to the growing control customers have over the home delivery experience, and their increasing expectations of the level of service. Tom answered a number of great audience questions and represented SEKO well with his roundtable talk!