Tag: logistics

Bangkok, Thailand – Logistics provider Ninja Van in Thailand unveils its new ‘Effortless’ campaign which aims to reaffirm its commitment to resolve all parcel delivery challenges with fast and prompt action done by the Ninja Van team. 

The new campaign comes shortly after its ‘Rubber Ring Man’ campaign that was launched earlier this year. The campaign addressed four main pain points in delivery services that Ninja Van Thailand seeks to resolve. 

COO Pierce Ng said, “The new Effortless campaign was built upon the previous commercial advertising movie. Through the Effortless campaign, we would like to reiterate our commitment to provide hassle-free deliveries for all our shippers and shoppers.”

Ninja Van Thailand spotlights ‘dramaless’ customer service in new campaign
The new ‘Effortless’ campaign is now live on its Facebook page

The company takes pride in its prompt and seamless customer service, hence, the theme of the campaign. According to Ninja Van, every customer call is answered within 30 seconds, and an administrative officer is ready to engage in chats within three minutes. Furthermore, incoming emails are handled within two hours. 

Coming out of the recent launch of the ‘Rubber Ring Man’ commercial, Ng shared the success it brought to its brand awareness. According to Ng, the campaign elevated their brand awareness to more than 3.26% with brand lift also rising to 6.34%. The same trajectory was also seen in Google searches for the brand.

“Based on these results, we can see that there is a definite upsurge in customer interest in our brand, which is in line with our planned expansion of PUDO (Pick-up Drop-off) points throughout the country,” said Ng. 

The company shared that within the year, an additional 200 distribution centres will open with a focus on the northern, northeastern and southern regions, while more than 2,000 PUDO stores will also be launched this year.

The new Effortless commercial has been broadcast on 20 April through various online channels and will run parallel with a series of ongoing marketing activities.

Manila, Philippines – Global package delivery company UPS has announced that local electronic wallet GCash has been now integrated into their services, where any shipper or recipient in the Philippines can now instantly and securely pay for UPS’s logistics services, and settle any outstanding shipment-related charges, at any time, using GCash’s digital payment app on their mobile phones.

Grace Gavilan, finance manager at UPS in the Philippines, said, “Being able to leverage GCash’s leading mobile payments technology enhances how our customers do business with us in several ways, including improved customer experience, payment convenience, and even minimising package delays in the event shipments are held at customs due to outstanding duties and taxes.”

She added, “Small businesses form the backbone of our economy, and as the Philippines pivots towards becoming a digitalized and cash-lite economy, their active participation is crucial or they risk getting left behind. We’re confident this enhancement opens more doors for Filipino small businesses to be part of an inclusive financial ecosystem, and addresses their needs for a smarter, more digital-first approach to logistics and international trade.”

Meanwhile, Luigi Reyes, vice president for enterprise at GCash, commented, “Our company’s fintech service is built on the premise of enabling a digital ecosystem to help every Filipino. We are delighted to team up with UPS as this moves us closer to our goal of accelerating financial inclusion in our society – across government, businesses and consumers – via our financial services platform.”

The latest integration is part of UPS’ latest initiatives aimed at enabling a global smart, technology-enabled logistics network, including new shipping technologies like My Choice for Business which provides shippers with greater flexibility and visibility of their inbound and outbound shipments.

Manila, Philippines – Zyllem, a global logistics technology company offering enterprise SaaS solutions, has announced its further expansion in the Philippines amidst a growing e-commerce market in the country.

Zyllem is a cloud-based software that allows companies to manage and operate their entire logistics distribution network in a more efficient, simplified, and transparent way. It counts pharmaceutical giant Zuellig Pharma, Metro Drug Inc, logistics firm Airspeed, and wholesale grocery distribution company Suy Sing as key clients in the Philippines and is actively looking to acquire more players in the market.

For Lisa Nguyen, chief operations officer and co-founder at Zyllem, the Philippines presents an exciting opportunity for them to help companies digitize and optimize their logistics network, eliminating legacy systems, despite the numerous unique logistical challenges that the country presents.

“Southeast Asia’s digital economy has been spurred on by the rapid pace of digitalisation from consumers and businesses and has witnessed unprecedented acceleration by the pandemic. Zyllem is poised to capitalize on this growth as more businesses are seeing the necessity to provide better and faster services, and look to optimize their logistics network to meet their customer’s orders. As the fastest growing digital economy in the region, the Philippines is an important market for us to achieve that,” Nguyen explained.

Meanwhile, Joanna Pawluczuk, head of sales at Zyllem, commented, “Logistics networks are often fragmented with companies having to manage multiple third party logistics partners and middlemen. Zyllem solves operational pain points with data gathered and fed into a unified dashboard, where customers will be able to take control of their logistic network and streamline their operations.”

She added, “We are able to optimize routes and reduce time spent on planning by 85%, allowing drivers to complete up to 30% more deliveries per day. With more predictable deliveries and real-time tracking, we also enhanced the experience for the end customer and eliminated the need for any customer calls

Since its go-to market in 2017, Zyllem has been working closely with pharmaceutical, logistics, retail and F&B brands to solve their supply chain problems across Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, Zyllem has presence in eight countries in Asia and manages two million monthly delivery orders, with 20% coming from the Philippines. Zyllem is funded by Philippines conglomerate JG Summit Holdings and leading early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners.

Manila, Philippines – Toll Group, an Australian transportation and logistics company, has announced its opening of its first office in the Philippines to effectively support Philippine-based businesses in their supply chain needs, empowering them with a suite of in-class supply chain solutions and access to regional growth opportunities. 

As part of that new endeavor, Toll Group has appointed Benjamin Bathan as its country manager in the Philippines. In his new role, he will be responsible for driving go-to-market efforts and building the local team’s capabilities for future growth in-country. He brings in close to 20 years of supply chain experience, having held positions in sales and operations functions in the shipping and freight forwarding industries.

Toll Group has long maintained a presence in the Philippines since 2007, working mainly through local partners. This pivot towards a direct presence in-country provides Toll Group with more autonomy and control over operations and service quality, streamlining goods transition and coordination in line with industry best practices.

In addition, local businesses stand to gain access to Toll Group’s extensive global freight forwarding network, allowing them to tap new business opportunities that lie beyond the Philippines, such as regional manufacturing value chains. 

For Bathan, the launch of a local office enables Toll Group to fill in the service gap of offering businesses in the Philippines access to their extensive global network and Asia-centric expertise to strengthen their growth prospects amid the uncertainty arising from the pandemic.

“A key objective of our direct expansion into the Philippines was to enhance access to global opportunities for local businesses. Many freight forwarders in the Philippines operate through a partner-based model and do not personally own a global or regional supply chain network, creating challenges in visibility and quality control,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Sood, senior vice president for ASEAN and Indian Subcontinent at Toll Global Forwarding, commented that a direct presence in the Philippines reaffirms Toll Group’s commitment to helping businesses across Asia navigate supply chain challenges and contributes to the continued expansion of their regional network and presence.

“The arrival of COVID-19 has made diversification of supply networks imperative for businesses not just in the Philippines but across the world. Today, uncertainties and supply chain bottlenecks have made a multimodal approach to transport and the ability to access multiple suppliers and markets critical for business continuity and resilience,” Sood stated.

Jakarta, Indonesia – J&T Express, the Indonesian-based express logistics company, has announced its market expansion to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, marking the company’s first presence in the Middle East and making their total served markets to ten.

Currently, J&T Express serves primarily in Asia, namely China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Singapore.

The expansion was first conceptualized during April 2021, where J&T has established its own nationwide distribution network and localised warehousing system in the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively, covering all local provinces and regions in the two countries. 

In addition, as an integral aspect of its courier service, the UAE and Saudi Arabia versions of the J&T Express mobile application have also been launched simultaneously.

Sean Xiao, head of J&T Express Middle East, said, “We hope that with J&T Express’ efficient and comprehensive delivery network, we can effectively improve the shopping experience of consumers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and contribute to the development of the e-commerce industry in both countries.”

Meanwhile, Steven Fan, CEO at J&T Express, commented, “The expansion to the UAE and Saudi Arabia marks an important step for J&T Express in establishing a global delivery network. In the future, the company will actively explore opportunities in emerging markets as part of its global strategy to connect the world with greater efficiency and bring logistical benefits to all.”

The latest endeavor for J&T Express comes after their recent funding round of US$2.5 in November 2021, and their acquisition of China-based logistics solutions provider BEST Express.

Sri Lanka – Through an announcement by the country’s Export Development Board (EDB), Sri Lanka has declared its desire to position itself as the Indian Ocean maritime, logistics, and distribution hub that provides all services and facilities. 

The country’s EDB is officially inviting proposals from eligible marketing agencies, those with public relations skills, where the remit entails developing a national logistics marketing plan and implementing both a digital and non-digital promotion to amplify the country’s logistics sector. 

According to EDB, Sri Lanka boasts a strategic geographic location along the main east-west sea route in the Indian Ocean. It being at the crossroads of the fast growing South Asia region with a proximity to many emerging markets is ideally positioned to be “a very viable hub” in the region. 

Through the commissioned project, Sri Lanka aims to double down on its unique proposition to further develop into a world-class logistics hub that would link global supply chains among a new generation of consumers in the fastest growing economies.

The assignment is slated to last for two years. At the end of the campaign, EDB expects the country’s logistics sector to increase its earnings by 20% within the next five years. 

According to EDB’s guidelines for interested firms’ request for proposal (RFP), part of the scope of work includes identifying different sub-sectors and at least top five key players in each segment that operate within the logistics sector and to address their requirements from a marketing perspective. The work also includes identifying three to five target markets for each segment to be targeted with fitting digital and non-digital strategies.

Marketing agencies are invited to submit their RFP on or before 27 August 2021. The applicants are requested to submit detailed sealed technical proposals and financial proposals separately with a duplicate copy.

The RFP document can be downloaded from the EDB website.

Jakarta, Indonesia – In its effort to digitize the logistics industry, Transporta, the Indonesian-based transport management system startup, has launched a free trial of its transport management system (TMS) for SMEs in the logistics sector.

Transporta’s solutions give a bird’s eye-view of logistics operations through a centralized cloud platform, which enables truckers to maximize the speed of their daily operations and utilize resources such as routes, truck space, and petrol usage.

The initiative aims to assist SME truckers, with 20 or fewer trucks in their fleets, to swiftly adapt to the country’s digital migration and rise in e-commerce activity, allowing them to use the firm’s TMS services at no charge for up to 75 trips per month.

According to Transporta, the initiative also seeks to tackle two problems plaguing SMEs’ logistic processes. First is the sudden influx of e-commerce orders from retail customers, which results in SME truckers transporting goods in half-full trucks at a moment’s notice, with empty haul back to origin city and barely any route optimization. And secondly, SME truckers losing out to larger fleets due to the low level of digital adoption and the high cost of logistics solutions.

Emma Hartono, Transporta’s chief operating officer, shared that TMS solutions are expensive, bulky, and more tailored for large-scale fleets, and with this, SME truckers are left in a hard place, doing business manually with Excel. 

“Transporta is here to offer help to these SMEs. Our long-term vision is to change highly-manual traditional logistics processes via digitalization, while emphasizing building a community and digital footprint of truckers,” said Emma.

Apart from its TMS solution, Transporta also offers a telemetry system to track each truck in every fleet, providing accurate and updated location information for all assets and building a digital footprint for SME truckers. A key upcoming feature is a community platform to share payload information among SME truckers, which connects to WhatsApp group chats, allowing SMEs to quickly combine their respective fleets and maximize routes to bid on and fulfill larger orders.

Transporta has also announced that it will be debuting its cost-efficient TMS in August, with plans to onboard 10,000 trucking companies over the next three years.

Manila, Philippines – More consumers are now relying on e-commerce platforms for their daily needs amid the pandemic, and with this, RUSH, Globe’s 917Ventures loyalty and e-commerce solutions provider, has partnered with GrabExpress, to be its logistics partner for the merchant deliveries.

RUSH enables SMEs to grow their presence in the digital space by providing customized and easy-to-use programs. According to RUSH, its white-label apps and services are utilized by over 100 companies with 27 million registered users. In addition, RUSH’s eStore allows merchant partners to do more than just selling and engaging customers, as it also looks for proactive solutions to improve business’ operational processes including logistics.

The partnership entails that GrabExpress will now be integrated into the RUSH eStore platform, allowing businesses to book a delivery partner, meet orders, and do cash-on-delivery (COD) – which is still the most preferred mode of payment in the Philippines. 

According to RUSH, one of the features of its RUSH eStore is the ability of merchant partners to expand or reduce their kilometer radius coverage with just one click. This allows businesses to reach more customers and gauge their distance, giving merchants control over coverage and delivery pricing. The new partnership will be amplifying this important feature since Grab deems to have the widest reach in Metro Manila and key cities all over the country.

Paolo Castaneda, RUSH’s chief operating officer, shared that RUSH understands how the last mile delivery experience can highly affect one’s repeat purchase behavior, and logistics is not just a nice-to-have, but a must for businesses going digital.

“Our partnership with Grab is a testament to our commitment to ensuring that our merchant partners meet their on-demand orders and keep their customers happy,” said Castaneda.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Kubota, the CEO of RUSH, said, “RUSH remains steadfast in helping businesses enter the e-commerce field easily by providing the best-in-class technology and impactful synergies, at a fair price point against the market. With Grab on the RUSH eStore, we are making it seamless for our merchant partners to manage last-mile delivery.”

Jacqueline Maye Lim, Grab’s head of GrabExpress for the Philippines, commented that the partnership with RUSH is a clear expression of their long-term commitment to supporting the growth of many businesses, while providing meaningful livelihood opportunities to many delivery partners. 

“We are grateful for the trust and the opportunity to work alongside RUSH in this meaningful endeavor and we look forward to continuing supporting many Filipinos towards the recovery of our community and our economy,” said Lim.

Manila, Philippines – In its ongoing mission of helping micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines reach more markets, local-based export platform 1Export plans to export products to 60 countries by the end of 2022. 

With the help of its business-to-business-to-consumer venture, Caravan, 1Export is ready to take on the world and empower more Filipinos to resell products proudly made in the Philippines to other markets.

The tech-enabled exporting company has distributed a total of 3,000 tonnes of products to 23 different countries, generating around US$500k or ₱25m in export sales as of June 2021.

Moreover, 1Export offers all-around exporting services, covering compliance documentation, product labeling, logistics, export facilitation, and marketing services. The company also provides its clients with intensive business matching services to determine which of their products fit certain markets. By doing so, local businesses can seamlessly expand abroad, boost their brand awareness, reach their target market, and grow their sales.

“It goes without saying that the pandemic has and continues to significantly affect the Philippine economy. But as we move forward and accept the business landscape in the new normal, 1Export is happy to contribute to the country’s recovery by circulating business transactions through exports and helping businesses expand their horizons,” said Mel Nava, founder and CEO of 1Export.

Founded in 2016, 1Export promises to help MSMEs in the Philippines to grow their business and expand in different countries using digital tools and platforms. The company currently has markets in the US, Australia, Canada, UAE, Kuwait, UK, and more.

Part of its unique features that sets it apart from either an e-commerce or logistics platform is that it takes third-party exporting to the next level by vetting local products to be cross-border compliant, allowing local businesses to follow the laws of the market they want to explore or expand to.

“When you’re a business owner, you want to be working ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ your business as the saying goes. We enable Filipino entrepreneurs to achieve just that―instead of spending so much time and effort learning about the complexities of importing in different countries, they can focus on the core business activities that will enable them to scale,” Nava added.

On another hand, Caravan by 1Export provides aspiring Filipinos entrepreneurs living or working abroad a catalog of unique and authentic Filipino products―ranging from food to clothing to beauty products―which they can choose from to start their own business where they are. If entrepreneurs want to sell items not available on the catalog, Caravan by 1Export is ready to assist them in finding their preferred goods, as long as they’re export-compliant.

1Export and Caravan provides Filipino entrepreneurs various opportunities to expand their business in new markets, as well as spread and empower the Filipino culture across the world. Entrepreneurs need only to sign up on 1Export’s website as a supplier partner to start their business journey.

Boon, Germany – E-commerce has been seeing an unprecedented rise in adoption in the past recent years, and with this, a slew of new players in every touchpoint in the ecosystem is biting at the open opportunity. The giant in logistics Deutsche Post DHL Group (DHL) has come out with a new global brand campaign to reassert its leadership and expertise in e-commerce, and it is titled ‘Keep up with the clicks’.

Besides providing delivery service in the growing e-commerce industry across 220 countries and territories, DHL also offers advice to companies on improving their website presence with a website health check.

The campaign’s TV spot, done in collaboration with DHL’s creative lead agency 180 Amsterdam, aims to remind businesses that DHL is the ideal partner to help it deal with the current increasing demand in e-commerce and to help it “keep up with the clicks.”

The TV spot features the voice of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor Tom Hollander, who explains in a rhyme-like rhythm how e-commerce has grown rapidly over the last few years. He tells the story of online shopping, from the early days when it was still easy for a retailer and logistics provider to keep track of and meet demand, and how online shopping has now become more established and almost a routinary part of our lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOQcZXK2Tw0

DHL Express’ CEO John Pearson said, “As logistics experts, we can help companies keep up with the growth and benefit from it in the best possible way. In addition, we can help any brand to be a global brand tomorrow. Especially offering express delivery is beneficial for fast-moving e-commerce and can increase consumer buying activity and consumer loyalty.”

The campaign will be running in more than 30 countries, and in addition to the TV spot, the campaign will be seen across digital channels, both in the form of digital banners and video, as well as print ads.