My Four-Part Series on Global E-Commerce Supply Chain
Deep VC research on the future of supply chains for e-commerce players
I have to admit, I am pretty excited to get this research into the wild. After thinking about #supplychainissues for the past year, it is time to unravel my research for public display.
But before we talk about investment theses in global supply chain, let’s set the (fairly grim) stage. Supply chain reliability is down from above 70% to below 30%, and 11% of goods globally are PHYSICALLY waiting on container ships at port . Meaning they are not unloading, nor loading, nor… moving.
In the US, e-commerce penetration in 2020 was equal to the last ten years. Global e-commerce sales will hit almost $5 trillion this year. On top of this rising e-commerce demand, layer the war against Ukraine and the recent Chinese lockdown, and you have a proverbial shit storm leading to not only component, product and labor shortages, but rising inflation. Brands are also struggling more than ever to find and retain happy customers. In a post cookie/post iOS14 world, brands have to focus more on creating loyal, higher LTV customers as advertising dollars to find new ones have become less efficient.
This is the backdrop for innovation. And as we know, crisis years produce some of the best venture capital vintages. So while we are experiencing one of the most challenging times in global freight, logistics, warehousing, and distribution, there is also opportunity.
I believe that in order to win amid this turmoil, e-commerce players need to deliver a seamless post-purchase experience no matter where the customer is situated globally. This ultimately boils down to three investment themes:
1. Enabling Prime-like delivery for emerging brands
2. End-to-end software solutions that enable cross-border sales
3. End-to-end solutions for e-commerce returns and circularity
Over the next three weeks, I will unpack each of these areas in depth, with data, VC and operator interviews and insights. Here is the first of my many musings and conclusions on the matter in my full introductory post:
https://medium.com/alpaca-vc/field-study-global-supply-chains-part-1-8ccadda1632c