We’ve teamed up with Descartes for a special event looking into the world of e-commerce and how brands have, and can continue to, sustain the home delivery boom.

The pandemic has accelerated the e-commerce and home delivery boom; with consumers and businesses now living in a ‘just in time’ world where, following the click of a button, they expect goods and services to be delivered on time. This boom and evolving customer expectation has put extra pressure on businesses to be faster and better, much quicker.

Throw into the mix tech challenges, driver shortages and the climate crisis – e-commerce brands are facing not only delivery and fulfilment challenges but existential ones too.

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Contributing speakers

Pol Sweeney: VP Sales EMEA Fleet Solutions, Descartes
Kristina Flickinger: VP Marketing SaaS Division, Halfords

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Here’s a breakdown of what we covered:

• I want to start by getting a sense of where we are with e-commerce sales. There was the pandemic peak, but how do we look in regard to a year-on-year comparison? (1:42)
• Is the HGV shortage close to being solved or are there still challenges around this? (4:35)
• I know we’re solving the problem and it’s complex, but I’d like to try and unpick it a bit more. What do you believe caused it? (7:31)
• What are the pressures that e-commerce brands are facing as they see more customer engagement and more demand from consumers, and are these rising customer expectations realistic? (9:14)
• How can brands build offerings that will wow the customer? What does a good customer journey look like from click to drop off? (13:22)
• How can e-commerce brands meet their environmental duties? (17:02)
• Descartes has done research into consumers habits around sustainability. Did you find consumers would choose to spend more if brands use more sustainable practices? (20:34)
• Are there any businesses that you’ve come across that stand out as an ESG champion? (22:06)
• Do you have any noteworthy examples of technology helping e-commerce brands as they look to scale? (23:40)

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