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2021 European E-commerce Report

European E-commerce Report 2023

Europe continues to be affected by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which has brought about high inflation rates, surging energy prices and general geopolitical instability. All of these notonly impact the purchasing power of consumers but also disrupt markets and global supply chains. Despite this, the findings of this year’s report show that e-commerce still continues to grow. In fact, the turnover in European B2C e-commerce increased from €849bn in 2021 to €899bn in 2022, even though the growth rate did decrease from 12% in 2021 to 6% in 2022. That said, thegrowth rate for 2023 is forecast to slightly increase to 8%, with the turnover in European B2C e-commerce also continuing its positive growth tendency.

Reducing lead-times and lead-time variance in cooperative distribution networks

The academic and professional attention to the large synergies hidden in horizontal collaborations is increasing. This study attempts to address the impact of collaborative transport on transportation lead-time and lead-time variability through empirically investigating a group of SMEs involved in a collaborative distribution network. Data was collected for seven pre-cooperation and eight cooperative orders over a period of 14 months. The results of Mann-Whitney U-test show a significant average reduction of 30.8% in the duration of lead times. Lead-time variability was also found to be reduced as the result of changes in the coefficient of variances and the Bartlett’s test for homogeneity of variances. Horizontal collaboration in transport could eventually lead to reduced lead times and lower variability of lead time which results in reduced supply chain costs. This can be achieved by means of direct routing and avoiding multi-transshipment routes which reduces the uncertainty and variability by diminishing the number of stages in the transport chain. Thus, effective lead-time management is considered a source of competitive advantage as it can reduce supply chain costs by lowering inventory levels, but is also capable of improving performance and customer service by offering improved product quality service levels.

Importance of factors driving firms’ decisions on spatial distribution structures

The design of a spatial distribution structure is of strategic importance for companies, to meet required customer service levels and to keep logistics costs as low as possible. Spatial distribution structure decisions concern distribution channel layout – i.e. the spatial layout of the transport and storage system – as well as distribution centre location(s). This paper examines the importance of seven main factors and 33 sub-factors that determine these decisions. The Best-Worst Method (BWM) was used to identify the factor weights, with pairwise comparison data being collected through a survey. The results indicate that the main factor is logistics costs. Logistics experts and decision makers respectively identify customer demand and service level as second most important factor. Important sub-factors are demand volatility, delivery time and perishability. This is the first study that quantifies the weights of the factors behind spatial distribution structure decisions. The factors and weights facilitate managerial decision-making with regard to spatial distribution structures for companies that ship a broad range of products with different characteristics. Public policy-makers can use the results to support the development of land use plans that provide facilities and services for a mix of industries.

De nieuwe kleren van de keizer. Openbare les

Tijdens deze openbare les presenteer ik u de visie en de ambitie van waaruit het lectoraat deze bijdrage wil leveren. Die ambitie is een uitwerking van de ambitie van het Kenniscentrum Innovatie en Business, waar expertise op het terrein van businessmodellen en ondernemerschap wordt ontwikkeld en uitgedragen.

Global China Insights

Journal in which the Groningen Confucius Institute (GCI) shares different perspectives on China and provides insights into China from as many different aspects as possible. GCI aims to provide a full view of real China to the readers as well as featuring international and comprehensive perspectives, cutting-edge topics, in-depth reporting, classic interpretations and vivid exposition.