Remote working, shop closures and social distancing have become the norm for many globally and this shift in lifestyle has led to a huge increase in e-commerce.
“The e-commerce sector has been booming for the last decade in general and in 2020 in particular, driven by the pandemic situation and lockdowns,” explains Fedor Novikov, marketing director, Volga-Dnepr Group.
“Volga-Dnepr felt the scale of social responsibility and fostered its cooperation and support of e-commerce platforms by providing high-quality services on board unique freighter fleet of Volga-Dnepr Group, especially Boeing 747 and Boeing 737 freighters, and guaranteed delivery of essential items to many consumers across the globe.
“We were able to support our customers from e-commerce sector and managed to achieve over 3.5-fold increase in cross-border shipments delivering over 135,000 tonnes of cargo to various countries.”
To cater to the increasing demand, Volga-Dnepr is growing e-commerce shipments in a number of ways.
Effectively using their capabilities, the Carrier is including not only Boeing 747 and Boeing 737 but also An-124-100/150 freighters to support e-commerce traffics between Asia and Europe during the peak seasons, as well as adding long-term charter programmes with flexible timeframes which guarantee capacity availability and uninterrupted supply chains.
“We have introduced new ULDs with extenders for bulk cargo to use the empty loadable space in lower deck compartment of B747F, which is cost-saving for the customers and more efficient in terms of capacity management for the carriers,” explains Novikov.
They are also strengthening the global e-commerce team, their expertise and competence whilst developing the IT hub and its integration with e-commerce stakeholders.
This guarantees 100% data transparency and accuracy, which is of vital importance for e-com customers and end consumers.
The digital customer experience will be improved with online booking options.
“These are just a few steps we are taking to foster e-commerce growth within Volga-Dnepr Group, although we are planning additional initiatives, which will enable us to reach new heights in e-com sector together with our customers worldwide,” Novikov adds.
