Supply Chains Darlings – 6 Supply Chains the Industry Has Obsessed Over - #5, eBay

‘Darling Supply Chains’ – the companies that tend to dominate the headlines of the supply chain world every-so-often for their innovative thinking, and re-imagination of the industry. Here’s part 2 in our series.

 

eft is going to attempt to chronicle ‘Darling Supply Chains’ – you know, the companies that tend to dominate the headlines of the supply chain world every-so-often for their innovative thinking, and re-imagination of the industry. The idea behind doing this is to revisit some of the reasons why supply chains have grabbed headlines and to imagine what companies might be gracing headlines over the next decade. Over the next 5 weeks, we’re going to release articles looking at 6 supply chains that have grabbed the headlines in the supply chain world over the last decade or so, and arguably changed the industry for good.

To help launch the discussion, we’ll be announcing each subsequent selection over twitter over the next 4 Fridays on - @eyefortransport. We’ll be using the hashtag - #SupplyChainDarling to help facilitate the debate on each!

6) Dell

5) eBay 

4) October 4 

3) October 11

2) October 18

1) October 25

 

1998 -2002/2013: eBay 

While Dell disintermediated the selling of computers for the consumers, eBay did the same for consumer-to-consumer selling. Consumers were now responsible for order fulfilment, arranging logistics, charging for shipping and generally acting as companies have since the invention of ‘delivery’. But perhaps more importantly, eBay provided consumers with a platform to open their own shops without the added cost and complexity of a supply chain to underpin it. With its purchase of Shutl in 2013, eBay returned to the supply chain radar as pundits and analysts alike considered the possibly implications of same-day delivery. With Alibaba’s west-word gaze, how will eBay respond? With Apple Pay and Alipay all coming into competition with eBay’s Paypal, we’re likely to see eBay again in the headlines as it continues to drive innovation in the eCommerce space.

Why did ebay dominate our supply chain headlines?

1) Consumers could directly reach consumers

2) consumers could become full-fledged retailers

3) Shutl’s purchase made us re-think the possibilities of logistics and delivery

 

Share your thoughts with @eyefortransport – would you consider Ebay a #SupplyChainDarling

 

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