Episode 17 - Cross-border e-commerce and 3D printing
Ian Kerr
The European Commission has announced a package of measures that it hopes will make it easier for consumers and companies to buy and sell products and services online across the EU.
These new rules will have major ramifications for postal operators.
The new rules relate to geoblocking, consumer rights, and most importantly for postal and parcel operators, increased transparency and regulation of parcel delivery.
Postal and regulatory expert Joost Vantomme joins me to give a detailed breakdown of what the proposals will mean for the delivery sector, including:
- Price transparency, and what it means in practice
- Increased oversight of parcel prices by regulators
- Why an extremely competitive sector is being regulated
- How e-commerce merchants ultimately set the shipping prices paid by customers
- Growth in cross-border e-commerce
- Which companies could be affected by these proposals
- Downstream access to parcel delivery networks
- What the future steps are
Joost doesn't hold back. He describes the proposals as "ambitious". It's an interview that all postal and parcels operators must hear.
Later in the podcast Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to discuss how 3D printing is disrupting the supply chain, including:
- The new UPS on-demand 3D printing service
- What some postal operators are doing with 3D printing
- What supply chains may be vulnerable to disruption.
We also talk about dog attacks on posties. A wide-ranging discussion!
Listen to the podcast via the link above. You can also listen (and subscribe) to the podcast via iTunes.
Want to continue the conversation? Follow the Postal Hub on Twitter. You can also contact me via the Contact form.
Ian.
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