Podcast: Charles Brewer, CEO of DHL eCommerce

Priyanka talks with Charles Brewer, CEO of DHL eCommerce on cross-border, last mile and all things digital

This week, Priyanka talks with Charles Brewer, CEO of DHL eCommerce. He has been in the industry 34 years now, and currently responsible for the Americas, APAC, Middle East and Africa regions.

Charles is very passionate about e-commerce and has a personal blog at www.future-of-ecommerce.com – the strapline for which is “What’s Brewing!!” – who doesn’t love a good pun.

Questions Charles answered

  • With such an international exposure under your belt, which are the upcoming regions/markets set for the biggest e-commerce boom and why?
  • What are some of the biggest hurdles as well as opportunities in cross-border eCommerce? Is it really a profitable proposition?
  • If there’s, say an American company, looking to go cross-border to deliver in Europe or Asia, where should they start and what kinds of partnerships should they be looking to build?
  • DHL Parcel Metro is tackling the last mile challenge through crowdsourced deliveries. How do you tackle the security aspect of crowdsourced deliveries (i.e. vetting drivers)? And what are some of the quantitative impacts you’ve seen from adopting this model?
  • What will be the biggest trends in last mile over the next 5 years and how does this differ across different markets?
  • What are the biggest innovations and investments DHL is looking at in the Ecom fulfilment space over the next 5 years or so?
  • Who is your biggest inspiration in the supply chain industry?

Charles has also travelled to 111 countries. To know which the 111th country is, and lot of other stuff, listen on…

About Charles

Charles Brewer is CEO of DHL eCommerce, a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, which he joined in 1984. In his role, he leads a global team responsible for developing solutions that enable the eCommerce sector.

Charles is a proven expert in supply chain, international shipping and e-commerce with over 32 years of industry experience, covering multiple global regions and disciplines across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and Africa.

Prior to joining DHL eCommerce, Charles was the Managing Director for DHL Express, Sub-Saharan Africa where he was responsible for the successful business and operations of 54 countries and territories, encompassing more than 50,000 customers, 4,000 employees, 250 facilities, 5 regional hubs and 20 dedicated DHL aircraft.

Charles started his career at DHL in the UK, before moving to the DHL Express Asia Pacific region where he was appointed Country Manager for Philippines and subsequently Country Manager for Malaysia. After Asia Pacific, Charles spent 5 years in the Americas region, where he first led the commercial organization and later was the General Manager for the North East region.

Charles was born in 1965 in the UK. After completing school at Lord Wandsworth College, he went on to Cranfield and Reading University and has also completed executive programmes at Henley Management College.

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