During the covid 19 pandemic, electronic commerce became the ally of small and medium-sized companies —Uruguayan and the world—, some used it to survive and others to scale their business. By the way, the report “Indicators of electronic commerce of Uruguayan companies” prepared by the Chamber of Digital Economy of Uruguay, ensures that 87% of the companies surveyed say they sell online, in addition to having an internet presence.
After having traveled a path of cooperation with the business sector, the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC) detected that logistics represents one of the greatest challenges for companies that are developing in the digital world, which has a full impact on their competitiveness. This motivated UTEC to plunge into the development of a study to help them take a leap in competitiveness.
Asked about what are the main barriers for small companies in terms of e-commerce logistics, the professor and member of the UTEC research team, José Hernández, asserted that in fact the technologies have a fairly basic application in the small companies. “In some cases, companies have the necessary systems, that is, software and tools to apply these technologies at higher and more efficient levels, however, they do not do so,” he pointed out, noting that in some cases the results lead one to think that companies do not know 100% the systems they have at their disposal nor their potential.
In this sense, the approach of the University to the subject also favors that companies begin to see logistics in a more comprehensive and close way, and they delve into the need to know and apply logistics as an ally for their results.
In this context, the paradigm shift implied by electronic commerce compared to traditional ones -characterized by more, smaller orders- makes the use of technology essential for the business to be not only successful, but also viable.
In the teacher’s view it is impossible to take control of e-commerce without the help of technology: “if we do not have efficient controls of our stock, if we do not have control of how much and when we are going to buy, or tracking systems implemented to locate the merchandise, or if we do not use specialized systems in interaction with the client to be able to provide information about his request and being able to take data from him that will help nurture our base”, described Hernández and noted: “It does not make sense to enter the world of this trade in an artisanal way, first because it is very expensive and then because it ends up being impractical. Therefore, technology plays a crucial and I would say defining role ”, he concluded regarding the initiative financed by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII).
Good practices of little application
According to the survey carried out by the UTEC, there is a series of good practices that can be key to the operation of small and medium-sized companies and, however, they are not applied in an ideal way.
The report concludes that there is a low level of adoption of good logistics practices for e-commerce in the cases of the companies studied.
The highest level of implementation of the practices studied is observed, in the first place, in billing and collection, followed by the reception of orders, storage and delivery of orders. This is reflected, for example, in the fact that 100% of the cases implement payment control.
Finally, the lack of adoption of technologies that integrate the management of logistics processes and the management of interaction with end customers is highlighted. By way of example, this means that only 8% of the cases make returns of the orders.
Lastly, there is a notorious absence of process measurement and analysis activities, which means, for example, that no consulted company measures the efficiency and effectiveness of its processes.
