How to Find a Logistics Partner With Blockchain Technology – Mark’s Story

Crossfit sessions, night rollerskating, or even downhill cycling – Mark tried pretty much everything to blow off his steam. Ever since he walked into his brother company, he has done everything he could to transform the enterprise into a digital-fit business. However, there was still one crucial aspect to sort out – and that was making transport & logistics agile and efficient. And his struggle to find a reliable logistics vendor was standing in his way. Let’s dive into Mark’s story.

AllThePets came to life long before data-sharing and blockchain began to shake-up the logistics industry. Year after year, the company have become one of the most meaningful players in the pet market. The vendor has grown into an e-commerce platform supplying most of pet store chains and veterinary clinics in the country. The growth was impressive and one man was conducting it.

Game-changing manager

The company was entering the second decade of the XXI century and they needed someone who would boost their performance by going digital. Mark joined AllThePets when he already was a tech-oriented growth manager and he knew that’s not the time to organize spreadsheets with spreadsheets to get things going.

He built a new website – an e-commerce platform integrated with the key online marketplaces. One by one, he has won contracts with vet clinics and plenty of pet shops. The company delivered everything from food and treats, through medicine, up to accessories like toys and pet furniture. Their warehouse was packed with goods from high-end producers and B2B clients were happy with the quality of the services.

So, what troubled Mark? What was not going the way he wanted to?

Reliable and flexible logistics partner?

Our time machine brought us back to the present days. Mark is pretty aware of what’s going on in the industry:

• E-commerce shops need to embrace the new technology to stay in the game,
• Blockchain and data-sharing are no longer just buzzwords looking nicely on the Interwebs but are really changing online business strategies,
• Amazon became a true goldmine for e-commerce. In the US and western Europe, people start to search for the desired product not by typing it in Google’s input but using the Amazon’s search engine.

Mark wants to make the most of it. Expanding to other markets, however, requires more complicated and out-of-the-box solutions when it comes to shipping and carriers. And this is the point where his blood pressure went up. Why? Because it turned out, that companies have limited access to logistics’ resources available on the market.

To find a T&L partner that would match his needs, he decided to publish a tender for logistics services. (Shortly after, he bought a punching bag to his office).

That’s our quote – take it or leave it

Mark’s brother, the founder of AllThePets, likes to call him a „shipper-agnostic”. He doesn’t care about particular brands, as long as shippers and carriers deliver the products on time with regards to the last mile delivery dynamics.

He invited over a dozen T&L vendors to the tender. Most of them were global and recognizable companies. He was very precise on the expectations and he emphasized the need for a customized solution. What did he get in return? 

All the vendors followed their routines and sent him their ready-made quotes. Surprising? No. They have their strict procedures and predefined plans for their clients. Instead of tailoring a special offer for AllThePets, their approach was more like: „Look, this is how we do it and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to take it”.

Mark did some research and he discovered that most of the global carriers have their square systems and playbooks. They can’t and don’t want to make exceptions, especially for prospects they don’t know yet.

His only choice was to pick an offer which was reasonably close to what he has been looking for. But still, it wasn’t exactly what he wanted!

Time for a disrupt!

Mark came across some white papers about the logistics industry and the tech revolution that has already begun. Blockchain and data-sharing are the nuclear engines to power up this enormously huge machine. „There is no other industry where so many industry experts ascribe a high importance to data and analytics in the next five years than transportation and logistics – 90% in T&L compared to an average of 83%. The sector has never had access to more data”.

Well, Mark, it’s time to start leveraging this fact and search for a fresh solution.

One to manage them all

He found it during the Wolves Summit conference, where he ran into the Hublock stand. The alternative came to light. Mark found out that AllThePets doesn’t have to:

• stick to one logistics vendor,
• build a dozen huge and expensive IT systems to integrate with a dozen carriers,
• accept compromises when it comes to slightly disappointing offers.

Instead, Hublock offered a brand-new solution – an agile platform based on data analysis and Artificial Intelligence. One platform uniting transport & logistics companies and their clients – e-commerce firms, industrial factories, online marketplaces and so on.

It’s a win-win situation. T&L vendors (in opposition to the global leaders) can join their offers, and use data-sharing to optimize and build one customized solution – just like one that Mark was looking for. On the client’s side, AllThePets can receive the dream offer and control all the shipping and last mile delivery processes.

Key client’s benefits

How can Mark and his pet supplies e-commerce company benefit from joining Hublock? Through integrating with one system, he can:

• Stay away from the global giants and leave their ready-made offers behind,
• Choose an ideal logistics offer because of access to data and connected resources of many smaller vendors,
• Organize tenders faster and easier. A tender will be published on Hublock, and logistics companies (together or separately) will have a chance to pitch client with the best, customized offer,
• Have instant access to available resources, which will help in cutting the middle-man, reducing costs, and making deliveries faster,
• Send and receive all the shipping information in real-time, for example – real-time cargo tracking, delay alerts and more,
• Utilize vacant space in transportation vehicles which will reduce the empty or half-empty runs and at the end of the day – save the natural environment from increased CO2 emission.

Are you ready?

Inspired by Mark’s business journey? The happy ending of this story can be yours too! Send us your questions or become a beta tester today and choose the future of logistics!