Essential shipping tools for small e-commerce businesses

The Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) e-commerce logistics market is becoming an important part of the e-commerce boom - growing up to 60.2% of the global e-commerce market by 2025¹. The reason? Customers moving to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To keep up with this growth, many small businesses have realized the need to match this new pace of customer behavior. This means overcoming logistical challenges such as inventory management and customer support.

For companies to overcome these obstacles, they have to start adopting digital tools that will empower them in the e-commerce space.

1. McKinsey & Company, Asia: The highway of value for global logistics, 2021

Taking your company to the next level with smart e-commerce solutions

Use smart e-commerce solutions to manage smoother cross-border sales, inventory management and customer satisfaction without raising costs. In the digitally driven world, a feasible way to achieve this is through the adoption of technological tools.

Here are five technologies that can help your small business with e-commerce:

Internet of Things (IoT)

Get visibility over last-mile operations to make them more efficient and reduce the occurrence of mistakes or failed deliveries.

Autonomous vehicles and robots

Avoid road congestions and enable contactless deliveries with self-driving vehicles and robots.

Big data

Improve efficiency and reduce costs in customs clearance and cross-border freight movement by combining multiple big data points.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Accurately monitor and predict logistics delays so you can take corrective action in real time, by combining AI with technologies like machine learning and 5G.

Tracing technology

Sensors enable greater supply chain visibility so your customers can track their goods precisely, resulting in greater trust for your small business.

Multiple technologies, one solution

For small businesses in their early stages, the focus is on realizing the big dream. Taking attention away from that to invest in the above technologies may not always be feasible.

This is where FedEx can help. We know what it takes to ship globally, and we have a wide range of digital tools to help you meet diverse needs, ensuring swift and effortless global shipping.

FedEx Ship Manager^TM

Integrate FedEx Ship Manager^TM, our easy-to-use shipping application with your e-commerce store built on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop or Magento. The interface streamlines the shipping process, right from creating shipping labels to sending tracking info to your customers. Now, you can focus on expanding your business while enjoying a hassle-free shipping experience.

FedEx^® Electronic Trade Documents

Submit trade documents electronically to reduce paper waste and delays at customs.

FedEx^® Reporting Online

Access up to two years of shipping data and quickly find patterns from interactive reports and summaries to make better business decisions.

FedEx also aims to make shipping seamless by integrating e-commerce platforms with your own systems. We can do this with tools like:

FedEx API

Integrate FedEx functionality into your site or application to automate processes like creating shipping labels, estimating transit times, and tracking shipment status.

FedEx third-party integration

Integrates with approved third-party e-commerce solution providers for FedEx functionality.

Direct to retail solutions

Integrates directly with your checkout process to allow customers to select their collection location while confirming their order.

Digitalization can help businesses thrive in a fast-changing marketplace, where catering to sophisticated customers is a priority. Given the stiff competition in the small business space, any tool or solution that can help businesses accelerate their growth is vital and FedEx can offer just that.

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