Ease of business / Changing the way we think about shipping

Making it easier

Shipping is a complex business

Scheduling, network operations, intermodal transit, equipment availability, customs, ancient maritime laws, labyrinthine documentation, hurricanes, earthquakes, piracy, war, fluctuating oil prices, insurance premiums, canal tolls...

It is indeed a complex business, but do customers have to know?

Our complexity is a customer's challenge – and our opportunity

Ask those heavily involved in almost any business and they will regale you with tales of the industry's complexity.

Our business model is founded on one ideal: we help customers do their business. We make worldwide commercial trade possible, but then our value to the customer lies in our ability to help them optimise their processes.

Opportunity to earn customers' commitment

Today, the industry's customers don't honour their commitments. Three out of ten confirmed boxes simply don't turn up when the ship is ready to sail. If we started delivering top-class tracking and tracing, exception handling, etc., constituting a complete seamless experience, then we earn the right to demand that confirmed containers show up – simply because we are offering a compelling product.

Taking out the pain:
One-click shipping

Out of all the processes that make up container transportation, there are only five relevant steps for our customers to be involved in. Today, however, customers and their business partners are involved in far too many unnecessary interactions and transations.

Book cargo - Deliver cargo - Track cargo - Receive cargo - Pay

Why should a customer not just be able to make a booking, pay with credit card, and leave the rest up to us?

We need to make it easier for the customers to:

look up a price or a schedule
get instant availability overview and an instant booking confirmation
have a simplified documentation process – pre-populated wherever possible
track incoming cargo
get notifications if the cargo is delayed

It’s shipping…
not rocket science

Which business is not complex?

DHL, FedEx and UPS made something complicated
easy for the customers,
so why can't we?

Do you agree that the shipping industry
could make things easier for its customers?

91% Agrees

9% Disagrees

Total number of votes: 789

Our research has shown that guests who rate their overall experience “excellent” rather than “very good” are twice as likely to return and refer. Walt Disney once said that it didn’t matter if people consciously noted the details because “People can feel perfection.

Which industry is the most complex?

Total number of votes: 737

13% Aviation

23% Car Manufacturing

56% Shipping

8% Mobile Telephony

CASE: Aviation

What happens when online retail becomes the industry norm?

Ryanair

In 2000 Ryanair launched its website with online booking allowing the company to sell directly to passengers and cut flight prices.

Within a year the website was handling three-quarters of all bookings and, today, it is only possible to book seats online or via the call-centre.

Ryanair is today the second largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers (66.5 million in 2010). Its fiscal results tell a story of success in a squeezed industry.

Fifteen years ago, many in the travel industry were certain customers would always want 'the personal touch' when booking their trip. Many seasoned experts argued that travel agents would always have a key part to play in the future.

Any bank teller would have told you the same about the high-street banking industry and supermarket cashiers would have said the same about the food retail industry.

As soon as technology unlocked online purchasing, customers turned to the web in droves. The interaction between producers and consumers radically changed.

17

Join the discussion

Sheraz Khan | Jan 12th · 09.14 am

"We have to be more flexible interms of providing online facilities for which actually we have to educate shippers / customers in most of the countries as customer need its own interest by saving money / time in any aspect even they are not educated / familar with the systems to follow but they will start cuz it will give them reliability, cost effective, time consuming and after all a procedure which they should adopt and this will become the trend of this industry to maintain a certain level in the market. "

Carla Bruni | Dec 23rd · 11.45 am

"To compare B2B shipping with mainly B2C Arilines is very stupid ... and shows that Maersk ha not understand the iondustry of Container Shipping. To come with superlatives like "absolute" and "total" is also crazy and proofs that Maerks has the wrong advisors."

Piero Laghi | Aug 17th · 03.15 pm

"I think the largest share of end-users (customer and customer's customer) are not ready for online shipping industry. The question could be: what will be for next generations ? "

Master Mariner | Jul 17th · 03.00 pm

"The shipping industry is the most complex not only because of the few more mouse clicks to deliver a product, but because it is not transparent enough for people to understand. Once a ship leaves port, it is a hidden world out there, until the ship shows up in her next port of call. Nobody ever thinks how his/her Argentinian or Brazilian Steak ever came to his European, American, etc. plate. We all take it for granted. Hence, even people involved in the supply chain sector do not understand why a box comes a day too late. It's nice if shipping would understand her customers, but how about the customers / managers understanding shipping? If you want to go global, how about understanding the languages of the global economy? Somewhere in the middle, customers and shipping should meet each other. The sea should not be conquered, it should be MASTERed."

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What if placing a shipping order was as easy as buying an airline ticket?

Our customers just want us to do the simple things well such as giving them an answer on whether they can get on our ships or not, so they can plan their own businesses.

If customers are offered a more automated booking process saving them money through supply chain and inventory optimisation ...
... then we will get better control of bookings and less no-shows. Because instant booking confirmation is a two-way process and a two-way guarantee, it means the customer is also confirming.

If customers are presented with an immediate price, with a full breakdown of charges – so they can deselect options they don't need – and a possibility to follow their order ...
... then we create security for them and they enjoy an improved overall customer experience.

If we automate customer interactions and thereby free up time spent on filling out forms, re-work and chasing loose ends ...
... then customers could enjoy an improved personal service as we could spend the time we free up to serve them, when and where they need it.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

How can we make shipping easier?

11

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Oen Lee | Nov 3rd · 06.30 am

"If I had those service like airline ticket..
I should be crazy fan to Maersk Line."

Mani Ganapathi Ramachandran | Aug 9th · 09.27 am

"While lines need to follow "Revenue management", the customers could be offered "Dynamic prices" based on the two way commitment. Everyboby benefits from confirmed business and pricing instability can be lowered. The information delivery on delays, etc coulod be based on a oush or pull model, the industry should consider M-commerce as way to get the good/ rich customer experience."

Satish.a - Operational efficiency Improvement Consultant | Jul 18th · 09.22 am

"Improved Operational efficiency = Improved Timely Customer Service = Improved Customer Satisfaction"

Saleem Bassadien | Jul 4th · 05.54 pm

"With the right technology to accomodate the processess in which a customer is involved, if we are able to Streamline this, we would create a satified customer. Essentially in shipping customers want to do the following 3 things: book, ship, receive. It is the industry's responsibility to be able to maintain these basic needs. I believe that if we can set-up a biometric system (like finger-print and retinal scanning technology) where all parties are integrated into one system, we will be able to eliminate the need for most of the old documentation systems and security checks. Thus cargo delivery, cargo release and payments can be integrated into one complex (although fundamentally simple) system. I realise this is an ideal which our times may not be ready for, but who better than the shipping industry to spearhead this ideal?"

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The TOC
Conference 2011

Maersk Line CEO, Eivind Kolding, addressed the
container shipping and logistics industry as
the keynote speaker at the TOC conference
in Antwerp, Belgium on June 7th 2011.

See pictures