Sea freight is responsible for approximately 80% of the cargo transported globally. Many individuals and businesses utilize sea shipping as an integral part of their supply chain activities, especially to move large and bulky items as well as large volumes from major manufacturing centres and shipping hubs to the marketplaces throughout the world. In recent times there have been a marked rise in sea freight costs. Notwithstanding, sea freight is still the transport of choice for global traders.
But can sea freight match the immediacy of air freight, which is more closely associated with e-commerce? Given its other advantages, does it even need to compete with airfreight? The answer is yes. The world is changing, and sea shipping needs to pivot to the new realities of the marketplace.
Over the last several decades, online shopping has seen massive growth with the emergence of companies such as Amazon, Alibaba, Ebay and others. The onset of COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of e-commerce, consolidating consumers’ appetite for not only faster and more convenient, but safer service delivery. An article in Forbes Magazine indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted e-commerce in 2020, noting that while traditional retail sales have declined, up to April 21, 2020, e-commerce has seen 129% year-over-year growth in the United States and Canada and a 146% increase in all online retail orders.
With ecommerce and air freight, a customer can stay within the confines of home, office, on vacation or elsewhere, place his or her order and have items delivered within a few days. Therefore, customers are today opting for convenience, and are therefore less tolerant of situations where the cargo clearance process is long, drawn out and onerous.
With increased competition and the post-pandemic realities, the sea freight industry is accelerating and pivoting toward a new way of doing business; striking the balance between its traditional modus operandi and expertise while embracing an e-commerce mind-set. This means re-imagining how sea freight can be carried out with greater efficiency, including adopting and adapting best practices from the airfreight industry for greater effectiveness, and making the investment to harness the appropriate technologies to remove red tape and streamline processes.
A growing number of players in the sea freight industry are getting innovative in an effort to meet customers’ expectation in the fast-paced shipping environment. They have begun to market services that allow customers to shop online to purchase large items such as furniture, appliances or equipment, or pack barrels of personal items acquired online, then ship via sea freight within a few days.
Kingston Wharves, the Caribbean’s leading multipurpose port and provider of logistics services, has accelerated its drive to adapt an ecommerce approach in the traditional sea freight industry. In an effort to streamline its processes and enhance customer satisfaction Kingston Wharves has invested in technological innovation, continuously trained its personnel and carried out acquisitions and improvements to its infrastructure, especially berthing and warehousing facilities.
Specifically, KWL has invested in digital platforms to undergird back office operations, streamline motor vehicle management, optimise its terminal operations and simplify the cargo clearance process. These investments have allowed Kingston Wharves to be an active part of the Port of Kingston’s Port Community System that is enabling greater collaboration and data sharing among the relevant port players, to foster a more seamless cargo clearance process for both commercial and personal effects shippers. KWL’s enhanced digital connectivity has also allowed the company to interface with the Jamaica Customs Agency’s ASYCUDA which is facilitating the electronic filing of customs documents by stakeholders thereby further improving the cargo clearance experience for customers.
Customer convenience and safety are key pillars of Kingston Wharves’ e-commerce mind-set. Several years ago, KWL introduced an e-payment service, and later the KW Mobile App to enable customers to pay their shipping charges online. The mobile app in particular, allows customers to pay for any shipment, from anywhere in the world, at any time of the day or night. Customers are just required to download the app from the Google Play Store and sign up.
These payment methods are complementing KWL’s latest initiative–Click N Collect. Click N Collect is KWL’s flagship e-commerce programme geared at simplifying the cargo clearance process by allowing customers the benefit of curbside pick up and to pay their charges online, including all KWL fees, agent fees and custom charges. The Kingston Wharves team, along with the customer’s agent will then navigate the entire cargo clearance process on his or her behalf. This means that the customer only has to attend the wharf to pick up the cargo when it is ready for collection. The pick-up is scheduled online and 24 hours later customers can collect at a designated curb side location by appointment.
Click N Collect is supported by an entire e-commerce infrastructure; KWL has developed a web portal where Click N Collect, and its online payment options can be accessed. A customer simply has to visit Kingston Wharves’ web portal eservices.kingstonwharves.com to register, pay online and schedule pick up of the cargo.
Persons can also access KWL’s other payment options, such as the KW Mobile App and Web-pay, as well as learn about the bank transfer option that allows customers to pay for shipments required 48 hours after payment.
Customers are enjoying the convenience of this fresh approach to managing the shipping and cargo clearance process. Kingston Wharves prides itself in continuing to raise the bar of service delivery through innovation and groundbreaking initiatives. The company will continue to lead the charge to re-invent not just it’s own operations but sea shipping in general for enhanced customer service delivery.
KW SeaScope 