Global economics and conflict continue to push trade, cargo demand, capacity and pricing in unexpected directions, creating headaches for the ocean cargo ecosystem. Carrier teams are looking to work faster, understand change better and deliver stand-out service with competition for custom being so high.

This all asks questions of ocean carriers’ ability to understand and respond effectively to change. Its vital carriers have the tools to forecast and strategize better, quickly match supply and demand, and deliver outstanding, accurate service.

The problem is many don’t. Recent data points to at best ocean carriers performing just below freight and logistics sector averages for digital maturity, despite investment. This is partly down to the patchwork of technologies and approaches most carriers rely on to go about the business of pricing, managing revenue and engaging with customers. Linked to this are challenges around data. The fragmentated ocean supply chain and general lack of data visibility and standardization makes it difficult for carriers to make well-informed decisions - at least eight paperwork and product handoffs support a container’s journey between continents. And millions of useful data points generated by global ocean cargo every day can’t be captured or harnessed.

Reputation comes with real costs

All of this knock’s operational efficiency and revenue management. But these challenges also directly impact a carrier’s reputation, whether as a service provider to its customers, a reliable customer to other businesses, or as an attractive employer.

The customer loses out, with a poor and inconsistent experience and low transparency around quoting, contracting and booking - a major trust factor in carrier selection.

Invoicing inaccuracies inevitably increase, damaging the customer relationship but also causing long wait times from initial request to quote - creating daily headaches and frustration for internal operations teams.

Inefficiencies in operations and invoicing lead to organisations losing revenue - inaccurate billing means daily dispute resolution, straining customer relationships - and the carrier business as a whole also loses out on potential investment in enhancing the customer experience.

And the employee experience is a frustrating one, with teams facing complexity and time-consuming, cumbersome processes. Across the business, staff end up spending too much time on activities that don’t add customer value and require heavy manual intervention.

Digital foundations will drive loyalty and preference

Technology and data obstacles stood in the way of delivering more agile and efficient cargo operations and service for too long - and holding on to a ‘status quo’ mindset around them is increasingly not sustainable.

There’s a golden opportunity to change this status quo and digitally transform cargo operations, and data lies at its heart.

Harnessing the massive quantities of data generated daily in ocean cargo through modern analytics is key to this, delivering proper insights into customer behaviours and demand trends. Big opportunities lie in automation in areas like pricing and inventory management, to respond quickly to changes in demand, or revenue management systems that provide actionable insights to support strategic decision-making. And more broadly, there’s a huge need and opportunity for platform plays that can bring greater data visibility across the whole ocean cargo ecosystem.

All of this doesn’t just stem revenue loss and increase profitability but just as importantly, improves customer loyalty and preference, helps attract and retain the best staff, and builds a modern, digitally led reputation in the market.

For ocean carriers to thrive in the modern era, they must embrace digital transformation and move beyond the limitations of legacy systems. This shift will enable them to capture and harness valuable data, streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and build a reputation as forward-thinking, reliable service providers in the competitive market.

Shenzhen Xunlaitong specializes in shipping export from Shenzhen to Australia & New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands and more business

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