Vision of the Future Supply Chain with RAIN RFID
E-Commerce requires 100% Reliability and Speed
Autonomous industrial supply chains and holistic supply chain solutions in the digital age: NXP Semiconductors explains why RAIN RFID is the technology of the future.
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Robust supply chains are becoming increasingly significant due to the e-commerce trend during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, increasing digitalization and ever-growing customer demands. As an example: Between April and June 2020, a US parcel delivery service records a package growth of more than 50 percent.
Customer expectations are rising. Short delivery times are expected. For 40 percent of customers, delivery is the most important purchase criterion in online retail. The requirements for a robust and flexible supply chain are growing.
Electronics
In 2020, the electronics industry recorded the largest increase in demand for computers in ten years.
Demand in the Electronics Industry Increases
In 2020, electronic products were in greater demand than they had been for a long time: In the computer and notebook segment alone, around 275 million devices were sold in 2020, according to the market research institute Gartner, and the International Data Corporation even calculated an increase of almost 13 percent to over 302 million devices. This is the strongest growth the industry has seen in ten years. Sales of household appliances grew by up to 15 percent in 2020, and game consoles also sold more than in the previous year.
The reason for the increase in demand is the corona pandemic, which has led to more computers, monitors, laptops per household for professionals, students and pupils to work effectively, especially due to lockdowns, contact restrictions and home offices. Demand for all these products increased by double-digit percentages in 2020, and by as much as 60 percent for monitors, according to market research firm GfK.
Share of E-Commerce in the Overall Economy Grows
In the last three months of 2020, shipments of laptops and computers increased by more than ten percent. In the entire electronics industry, online retailing is taking on ever greater proportions: according to Statista, 39 percent of all consumer electronics products and 31 percent of all household appliances will be sold online by 2023. 93 percent of respondents to a study on online shopping behaviour from 2020 indicated that they buy consumer electronics online.
By comparison, the share of online retailing is expected to rise to over 20 percent for clothing and personal care products. Increased e-commerce is reflected in increased parcel volumes. Overall, according to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, the global shipping volume is expected to more than double to up to 300 billion parcel deliveries by 2026. Logistics companies need to ensure shipping and receiving accuracy, exception handling and inventory control, as well as seamless return logistics.
Electronics Industry Booms Amid Corona Pandemic
Equipment for home office work was particularly in demand in 2020: More laptops, computers and monitors were sold then, than at any time in the past ten years. Household appliances and consumer electronics also saw a strong increase in demand. An ever-increasing share of these devices as well as other items is being sold via e-commerce, with a total volume of up to 300 billion packages expected by 2026.
In this 'just in time' manufacturer to retailer supply chain; brand owners, logistics providers and e-commerce leaders are appreciating that visibility is the key to managing current and future growth. RAIN RFID provides the data required for the next generation of supply chains.