There’s lots of talk about global ecommerce operations leading up to the Operations Summit, taking place in Indianapolis on April 22-24.
We are all keenly aware that global ecommerce is growing faster than domestic ecommerce, but trying to figure out how to execute global ecommerce, and make it as profitable as it can be, isn’t easy.
In preparing for the keynote power panel, panel members talked about the challenges of improving global profits and about the fact that at this point, most global orders come from a small number of countries. The panel agreed that global represents a significant opportunity that they are all experimenting with, especially as new partners and opportunities are opening up quickly. For those with brick and mortar stores, the decisions about going global seem to be more complex, since those companies often decide to have a physical store(s) in other countries.
Jim Reid, Vice President of Distribution Operations for QVC will be sharing his global operations knowledge from his experience at QVC and Toys ‘R Us. Jim will outline when to use a full service third party provider, when to split the responsibilities between your own operations and third parties and partners, going it alone, and when and how to use local resources in different countries. Joining Jim will be Luxottica’s Senior Manager, Ecommerce Fulfillment and Customer Care, Trey Dean. Luxottica is world’s largest eyewear company with well known brands including Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. Trey will talk about Luxottica’s expansive worldwide growth and how they are making it work.
Some of the most frequent questions about global ecommerce involve shipping and delivering packages in other countries. Some of the largest global shipping and delivery companies will be in the exhibit area , in the sessions, and at the roundtables – including UPS, which ranked number one as the primary international parcel carrier by the Multichannel Merchant audience in our recent Outlook 2014 research.
In addition, Pitney Bowes and Pro Golf South will talk about how to identify the biggest opportunities and challenges when designing and implementing a successful global strategy. Attendees will walk away with a preliminary game plan to expand their global reach in Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America among others. They will also cover what the international consumer is looking for when shopping online such as simplicity, reliability, and speed.
One thing is for sure – after the Operations Summit, we’ll be sharing a lot of new information about global ecommerce operations.