intelligent

More and more brands in Europe are looking to this market for growth opportunities . There will be an increase in West-to-East imports of products driven by demand from young consumers in Malaysia , Indonesia and Cambodia , for example . But there are also opportunities for domestic brands that want to sell to wider audiences , in South-East Asia and beyond to the US and the UK , Australia , India .

Asendia ’ s West-to-East initiative will help Western brands master country-specific online marketplaces , social commerce , localised payment , fulfilment and customer service communications .

What are some of the key challenges your end users are experiencing and how are you addressing these ?

The landscape for cross-border e-commerce has changed drastically over the last 12 months affected by the pandemic , as well as new customs rules in UK since Brexit , in the USA with Stop Act and Europe with IOSS . With these complications , it has become impossible for brands to operate their e-commerce from a single global distribution centre and this has created the requirement for regional warehouses .

The pandemic has put pressure on supply chains between supplies of product ( time and costs ) and delivery to shoppers . For us as a business , we offer advice and work collaboratively with partners to find alternative routes if necessary . Also , IT is key so that we can provide agile solutions to our customers and multiple delivery solutions with fast turnaround . We are devising new ways to reach overseas destinations on behalf of our clients .

How has your organisation adapted over the last 18 months ?

Currently , to cope with supply chain bottlenecks and lack of capacity , logistics suppliers must be highly flexible , creative and knowledgeable about global transport routes . This is exactly how we have proceeded since 2020 .

We have also forged ahead with timely problem-solving services for our clients . We launched the e-PAQ range of e-commerce delivery services to meet different customer expectations . e-PAQ has four tiers , catering to shoppers ’ delivery needs , with a range of criteria based on speed , price , format , weight and other features . These are e-PAQ Standard , e-PAQ Plus , e-PAQ Select and e-PAQ Elite .

What are your key goals for the next 12 months and how do you plan your forward strategy ?

We want to further strengthen our position in Singapore as a regional operation to support the development of our customers , combining with local presence where necessary .

We will also develop our gateway to Oceania with a new partner to better fulfil deliveries to shoppers in Australia particularly . Australians are buying from worldwide brands and Singapore is ideally located from a supply chain perspective with an increasing number of flights between the two countries . This will enable us to reduce our transit times for Australian shoppers , building a strong corridor .

We shall not forget the opportunities arising from the wider Group La Poste companies with DTDC in India and Ninja Van in the South-East Asia region ; the two courier services being key operators in their respective markets .

How important is technology to your own business for ensuring ability to scale and how do you plan to grow the business further ?

As mentioned earlier , we have proactively invested in companies because of their dynamic leadership and trailblazing technology , helping us to build new solutions for international parcel delivery and customer service .

For instance , in 2020 , Asendia became a shareholder of Anchanto . It helps brands streamline and manage highly successful end-to-end e-commerce operations with e-commerce logistics and multichannel selling , so together we have huge plans for the coming years .

By embracing technology , partnering with leading tech companies and training our people to high levels as they adapt to new systems , we will remain at the cutting edge and stay competitive and ready for future challenges . �

Olivier Linchet , CEO South Asia Asendia

WE WANT TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN OUR POSITION IN SINGAPORE AS A REGIONAL OPERATION TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR CUSTOMERS .