Consultant Insight: SEKO Logistics’ Pixior acquisition to deliver faster cross-border e-commerce deliveries

SEKO Logistics’ recent acquisition of 3PL and fulfillment service provider Pixior will bring quicker fulfillment and last-mile deliveries for customers. The acquisition nearly doubles SEKO’s fulfillment and warehouse space in the U.S. and triples its capacity along the West Coast, according to an Aug. 9 release. In addition, Pixior’s drayage business is expected to further the speed and efficiency of SEKO’s port discharge services. Commerce, Calif.-based Pixior’s seven locations on the West Coast and one in Connecticut are expected to help boost SEKO’s trans-Pacific cross-border e-commerce business. The Itasca, Ill.-based company in January formally announced the launch of SEKO Ecommerce , which offers international e-commerce shipping and delivery services; e-commerce fulfillment; parcels returns, re-commerce, heavyweight e-commerce shipping and last-mile delivery. [caption id="attachment_69752" align="alignright" width="319"] Cathy Roberson, Cargo Facts Consulting senior consultant and Air Cargo World columnist[/caption] SEKO’s e-commerce operation has more than doubled in size in the past year, as online consumer purchases accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and currently accounts for around 40% of its annual revenue, according to a Jan. 17 release. International e-commerce SEKO offers a streamlined customs process and participates in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Section 321, which allows for goods valued up to $800 to clear through U.S. Customs tax- and duty-free. The section exempts low-value shipments from taxes and duties, as long as the shipment complies with the $800 de minimis threshold. The logistics company is also one of only a handful of global forwarders certified to handle both air and ocean shipments under the CBP’s Entry Type 86 pilot, which allows for incoming shipments valued at less than $800 to file remotely and electronically via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) for clearance. The Pixior acquisition will ensure that cleared goods will stay in SEKO’s network longer and allow the forwarder to offer in-house e-fulfillment services, according to the release. By keeping goods in its network longer, SEKO looks to speed up the movement of goods through supply chains and, as an added bonus, to gather supply chain data to be used for benchmarking, carrier rating, rate negotiations and more. Asset-based networks offer competition Other forwarders are building their cross-border e-commerce strategies , but few have advanced their capabilities to match those of SEKO. However , express providers such as FedEx Express and UPS may pose a competitive threat to forwarders like SEKO because of their asset-based networks — there’s no need to hand off parcels to last-mile partners, for example. SEKO and other forwarders instead partner with carriers for that last leg of the supply chain. On the flip side, asset-based networks are more costly to manage, and often these costs are handed down to customers in the form of higher rates and surcharges. But the good news for shippers, big and small, is that there are an increasing number of options for cross-border e-commerce logistics. E-commerce has grown at break-neck speed over the past few years . However, slower growth is being reported by shippers this year , and this slowdown is negatively impacting supply chain providers. “The softness in e-commerce activity is a global, industrywide trend as consumers returned to brick-and-mortar shopping as COVID restrictions eased,” Othman Aljeda, CEO of Dubai-based express provider Aramex, said in the company’s recent earnings report. “We are also seeing rising inflation rates globally, which puts downward pressure on discretionary spending,” Still, as companies digitize and conduct more online business, e-commerce growth will continue, albeit perhaps a bit slower than in years past.

Consultant Insight: SEKO Logistics’ Pixior acquisition to deliver faster cross-border e-commerce deliveries

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