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Future of (E)commerce

CLS briefing series from the commerce logistics industry experts

The Future of (e)Commerce section of the Commerce Logistics Briefing Series focuses on recent and future developments in (e)commerce.

We examine the ongoing digital disruption & transformation of the industry and digital logistics/last mile delivery, covering topics including hybrid postal/commercial cross-border delivery solutions, the future of out of home (OOH) delivery, and the new last-mile delivery which has emerged during the pandemic.

Naturally, our analysis of the EU VAT Ecommerce package was a major focus. This "big bang" fundamentally changed the framework conditions for importing goods shipments into the EU. We report on the implementation, reactions, and consequences for customs, trade, logistics, and the entire market.

You can access all our LinkedIn postings on the Future of (E)commerce via the links below:

2025

• The World Customs Organization (WCO): Integrating AI & ML into customs operations (May 2025)
• Postal standardization initiatives in 2025: Supporting Europe's Digital Single Market and improving postal service provision (April 2025)
  
• EU Toolbox for Safe and Sustainable Ecommerce (February 2025)
• Artificial Intelligence: The core of data-driven delivery of commercial consignments in ecommerce (January 2025)
• Data-driven, end-to-end delivery – evolve or face extinction (January 2025)

2024

Rethinking the delivery of B2C supplies: (March 2024)

• Part 1: Background
• Part 2: The first logistics operator paradigm
• Part 3: Many networks 
• Part 4: Many solutions
• Part 5: Transport security, product safety, & sustainability
• Part 6: Cybersecurity & governance

The Big Reset in parcel delivery: (January 2024)

• Part 1: Why some major CEP operators are struggling
• Part 2: Eliminating disruptions in the postal delivery chain
  
• Part 3: Digitization of the Universal Postal Service Provision
• Part 4: Global, electronic real-time data exchange
• Part 5: Global harmonized intra-logistic and inventory management reinvents B2C delivery

• ISO creating international standards for retail logistics (September 2024)
• How Chinese marketplaces are accelerating EU customs reform (May 2024)
• European Postal Operators must restructure to survive (March 2024)
• Revolutionizing ecommerce logistics: TEMU's game-changing business model (February 2024)

2023

• GUEST POST: Santosh Gopal: Permission Based Delivery (November 2023)
  
• EU eCommerce Report: Legal, regulatory and compliance framework for cross-border ecommerce (September 2023)
  
• EU Customs Reform - taking the Customs Union to the next level (August 2023)
• The New EU Customs reform, Part 1, 2, 3, 4 (July 2023)
  
• The new ecommerce & logistics paradigm – it's the data, stupid! (May 2023)
  
• Urban ecommerce logistics – are microhubs the new game changer? (April 2023)
  
• UPU Postal Prosperity Zone (PPZ) - Blueprint for postal B2B2C ecommerce, Part 1 (April 2023)
• VAT & Customs fraud: How the EU's new ViDA legislation can prevent up to EUR 100 billion in annual revenue losses (March 2023)
  
• Digital risk management & compliance in ecommerce: How the industry will react & the impact on the postal sector. Part 1, 2, 3, 4 (March 2023)
• Electronic Freight and Transport Information (eFTI): Europe's path to paperless freight transportation systems (February 2023)
  
• Review 2022 <=> Outlook 2023 (January 2023)
• Digitalization stimulates evolution in last mile delivery (January 2023)
• Flexibility: The future of last mile delivery: Part 1: Online, multichannel retail demands scalable, adaptable, last mile delivery infrastructure with a dynamic footprint (January 2023), Part 2: Data-driven, pre-sorted B2C delivery: raising efficiency & unblocking roads (February 2023)
  

Upcoming reform of EU VAT legislation (ViDA): (Full article here)

• Part 1: ViDA – VAT in the digital age
• Part 2: Digital reporting requirements and e-invoicing
• Part 3: Single VAT registration (SVR)
• Part 4: Further development of IOSS
• Part 5: Impact on marketplaces
• Part 6: Marketplace liability & transparency, linking VAT ID & Transport ID

Digitally driven postal delivery: 

• Part 1: Postal customs – turning yesterday's postal customs handling privilege into a postal prosperity superhighway for ecommerce
  
• Part 2: Digital retail redesigns postal delivery – turning yesterday's letter post processes into a recipient-focused postal prosperity superhighway for ecommerce
  

2022

• Explained simply by CLS: Decline of postal cross-border volumes: Extent, causes, background, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (November 2022)
  
• New draft legislation for ICS2 (Release2, 1 March 2023) (October 2022)
  
• DISRUPTION – a storm is brewing, but digital retail is a winner (September 2022)
  
• Reform of EU VAT legislation and regulation - action plan expected in autumn 2022, Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 (September 2022)
  
• Digital Silk Road 2.0: How China plans to overcome the impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis (July 2022)
• The future of ecommerce - a perfect storm is brewing (July 2022)
• eCommerce driven transport and delivery (Panel session at SIL 2022 in Barcelona) (June 2022)
  
• 6 global trends which show how digitalization is reshaping the global delivery of B2C items (May 2022)
• CARGO to MAIL – B2B2C leads to delivery chain management (May 2022)
• Mail as cargo: Ensuring integration of mail and cargo systems into every step of the delivery chain (March 2022)
• Austria publishes new guide for "White Label Parcel Boxes" (January 2022)
• Omnichannel commerce and its impact on last mile delivery – 10 key theses: 1-4, 5-7, 8-10 (May 2022)

The next digital disruption in ecommerce logistics:

• Part 1: Winners of ecommerce digital activity (February 2022)
• Part 2: Ecommerce logistics shipments activity (February 2022)
• Part 3: Pandemic ecommerce volumes delivery (February 2022)
• Part 4: Retail last mile delivery models (February 2022)
  

2021

• Looking back at the introduction of the IOSS: an overview and impact on ecommerce (December 2021)
  
• Digital Service Act & Digital Markets Act: new online rules for businesses in the EU (December 2021)
  
• Out of home (OOH) & automated parcel machine (APM) delivery – will open or closed network models predominate? (December 2021)
  
• Postal cross-border shipping into the EU (December 2021)
  
• Megatrend vs. hype: how sustainable is the OOH evolution? (November 2021)
  
• Why cross-border postal item volumes (UPU) into the EU are declining (October 2021)
  
• Success story IOSS: Digital party identifiers needed! (September 2021)
  

The Future of (E)commerce:

• Part 1: Lessons learned from the pandemic (September 2021)
• Part 2: Why marketplaces may face their greatest test yet (October 2021)
• Part 3: O2O reloaded – stationary retail may be the big winner (October 2021) 
• Part 4: A second chance for stationary retail (November 2021)
• Part 5: The emerging logistics disruption and its impact on key stakeholders (November 2021)
  

EU VAT Ecommerce Package

• UPU: Challenges and opportunities for postal operators to once again increase volumes – EU Postal Market, new fees, the EU VAT Ecommerce package (November 2021)
  
• Postal Fees: Will new postal fees for using the import one stop shop (IOSS) effectively end the UPU universal service in the EU? (August 2021)
  
• Cross-border trade: Is OSS only a transitional solution? (July 2021)
  
• Ecommerce "Big bang" on 1.7.2021 – the EU VAT Ecommerce package is not only about VAT. (July 2021)
  
• Ecommerce "big bang" on 1.7.202 – no transition grace period – will it be BREXIT 2.0 and very unhappy customers? (July 2021)
  
• EU VAT Ecommerce package: Making the UPU network the most expensive option? (July 2021)
  
• UPDATE & CLARIFICATION: EU VAT Ecommerce package: Making the UPU network the most expensive option? (July 2021)
  
• EU VAT Ecommerce package: Why OSS may only be a transitional solution (July 2021)
  
• IOSS: The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS): Everything you need to know about the simplified VAT payment model (June 2021)
  
• B2C E Commerce: Before and after 1 July 2021: The key changes to B2C e commerce following introduction of the EU VAT e-commerce package (June 2021)
  
• VAT & Online Retail Fraud: Ecommerce: Digitalization & standardization helps end VAT evasion and combat online retail fraud & illegal trade (January 2021)  

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