The Impact of E-Commerce on Logistics Service Providers

The impact of e-commerce on the business environment is often praised but seldom analyzed with scrutiny. In this paper we try to depict the underlying logistically relevant aspects of e-commerce and their impacts on logistics service providers. This seems to be of considerable importance as logistics is seen as the backbone of e-commerce operations. However, the firms specializing in this field are commonly neglected. We argue that the logistical implications of e-commerce can be differentiated into two main categories: (a) the rise of e-marketplaces and (b) the elimination of supply chain elements (disintermediation). By analyzing these two categories and their major logistical implications in detail we deduct strategic consequences for logistics service providers.