One immediate observation in most countries is that there has been significant increased adoption of online shopping. Partly due to necessity as retail shops have been locked down, the key question is whether this will be sustained. Certainly the experience in post-lockdown countries such as China is that the switch has been maintained. But will that continue once we are virus free, as freedom to shop again without fear returns and shoppers are able to amass in stores? Maybe longer term there will be a consumer reaction that kills the desire to spend long evenings at the terminal and replaces it with a desire to browse real aisles and real shops?
Will this be similar in the adoption of technology? Will it be short term driven but have longer term permanence? This is another question that arises as people point to the known technological solutions that exist to transfer goods across borders and between businesses, with minimal intervention and a reduction in the costs of inspection.
Clinton Liu from CILT North America states the case for the long term adoption of a technology that is built into shipping containers and based on blockchain innovation. Read his report here
This is an example of industry analysis from Canada, which we are sharing as part of our global best practice resource to help you think about and determine appropriate responses locally.
