More forwarders partner with online platforms as global e-commerce traffic expands

© Alexandersikov

Forwarders are increasingly opting to partner with e-commerce shipping services.

Easyship, an online shipping platform, has expanded its arrangement with U-Freight to partner with Seko Logistics.

The U-Freight agreement means Easyship customers will now have access to the forwarder’s fulfilment centres in the Netherlands, the UK and the US, while, the new arrangement with Seko will give its more than 40,000 customers enhanced coverage across Asia-Pacific, Australia, Europe and North America.

Co-founder Augustin Ceyrac said: “Easyship is breaking down the final barrier in global e-commerce by making cross-border shipping as accessible as domestic shipping.

“By partnering with Seko, in APAC, Europe and North America, we enable our clients’ access to world class shipping infrastructure to accelerate their growth.”

He added: “We see tremendous potential in our partnership with U-Freight, by providing a simplified process, from label generation to the end-users.”

Easyship says its system affords customers full-cost visibility and real-time shipment tracking, and it has recently expanded to cover domestic returns for US customers. And those in the continental US are provided with branded email and tracking, regardless of final-mile postal carrier.

U-Freight’s B2B e-commerce developments saw it among the first to receive cross-border e-commerce enterprise and logistics service provider licences in China.

Chief executive Simon Wong said: “For e-commerce, last year was U-Freight’s busiest to date, and much of it was due to our partnerships with Easyship and other online platforms.”

For Seko, the move comes after five years’ focus on growing bundled parcel and freight solutions, including last year’s decision to increase partnerships with e-commerce providers. Vice president of marketing Brian Bourke said 2018 had also been his company’s busiest in terms of cross border e-commerce traffic.

On the agreement with Easyship, he said: “This is a key partnership, which will generate a lot more interest in our cross-border services and huge growth opportunities.”