February 25, 2022 
The E-commerce business model is very dynamic and trendy in terms of sales and other operational processes. To maintain an e-commerce platform, a business person must look into several operations like inventory or warehouse management and logistic management. The entire process requires proper strategies for easy access to the application significantly.
The logistic management operation binds the entire process strongly and needs proper attention to fulfill the customer’s need and real-time delivery of the stuff or products.
E-commerce opportunities and its expansion in the Philippines
As an e-commerce businessman, you can expand your business in countries like the Philippines or start your business in the Philippines to generate profit out of it. To manage the demand and supply in the countries, you need to focus more on the strategies to build the performance and operation of the system precisely.
These days the Philippines are trying to explore the digital market as an opportunity and set the e-commerce business as a tending choice to attract sales and hike in the market.
As per the report of Facebook and Bain & Company, online purchasing has been grown from 33% to 45% in 2021 in countries like the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.
E-commerce and Logistics Challenges in the Philippines
The pandemic has delayed the logistics issues in the Philippines because of the travel restrictions. Before the widespread pandemic, a report was circulated from OECD. The logistics sales were high in the Philippines, around 27%. As per the report, the congestion gets delays, delays in cargo services, along uncertainty in custom services.
Often, customers are not satisfied because of the deteriorated conditions of goods, leading to delays in the services and service delivery. Sometimes the poor logistics and high delivery charges are the challenges that the logistics department undergoes on a general basis.
Let’s discuss some of the challenges that the logistics department goes through are mentioned below:
Manual Processes
Even today, businesses follow manual operations more largely after developing the technologies. No matter how high the technology rises, the manual processes are still in demand to look into the functions from a long-term perspective.
- Infrastructure and its defects
Travel becomes problematic for countries like the Philippines as the region is divided into two parts: Luzon and VisMin. Even language is a barrier in both areas; transportation is a massive issue in the region to consider. The street and the traffics in the Philippines are congested, which delays the delivery of the products on time. The need of the time is to develop the infrastructure for the speedy delivery of the stuff for the customer’s satisfaction in a broader way.
- Effective Logistics Cost
It’s the responsibility of the higher authorities to maintain the logistics effectively. Transportation of the goods sometimes causes inconsistencies at times of movement or shipping of the goods. The shipping also charges high sometimes, which results in the delay of the process. To perform the best in logistic management, you can tie up with some courier partner to make the work easy and moving. Appropriate logistic management would help maximize the profit and provide better customer service to resolve the customer queries.
- Return processes of the stuff
Ordering stuff is a quick process and easy to handle the cart. But when it comes to returning the product, it is pretty cumbersome as one has to follow a specific procedure to replace the stuff within a week or a month. Every e-commerce platform has its return policies to consider and provide guidance for the return process. Time is needed to make the return policies easy and convenient to access without many hurdles.
Whether it be Return to Origin (RTO) or Customer Initiated Return (CIR), both undergo operational cost at times of return. When the returned stuff is back to the store or warehouse, it is complicated and tough to manage as the returned products data need to be updated in the store, which is again a challenging task to look into.
Such stuff requires space in the store, and sometimes they are segregated as per their conditions, whether it is perishable or non-perishable.
The warehouse, in such cases, is managed well by providing appropriate space and placing the stuff differently as per their nature. Sometimes the property is returned in its worst state. At that time, the e-commerce platform has to face both the cost of the products and the operational cost.
The logistics are of primary importance to managing the entire process from inventory to warehouse management, placing an order to pick and pack it, and shipping it to the correct address.
Logistics Management and its centralization in the Philippines
- Return Policies
It’s time to make the return policies easy to access the opportunities to get the products of their choice and needs. With every return of the stuff, the businesses understand the customer choices and experience excellently.
- Enhancing the value chain
The flow of the demand and supply increases as per the services provided by the e-commerce platform and the fulfillment of the customer choices. The entire process, from manufacturing to production to management of the orders and delivering at the correct address, is tracked in sequence.
- Cut off the extra costs.
The e-commerce platform makes sure that the services must be provided adequately so that the operational process may not cost nor the product cost.
- Customer-Centric goal
The idea behind online purchasing is to satisfy the customer’s needs and desires just by a single click, and the products are at their doorstep.
The e-commerce platform captures the market in a broader way to enhance sales and customer attraction long-term.
