Infographic: The State of Modern Freight Forwarding

The State of the Market

1. Opportunity abounds in a booming market: valued at $192.50 billion in 2021, the global freight forwarding market is projected to reach a whopping $285.15 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2022 to 2031. (Source: Allied Market Research) 
2. Uncertain times lie ahead: 88% of supply chain leaders are concerned that inflation and recession will impact their businesses in 2023. (Source: Logistics IT)

Evolving Customer Expectations

1. 80%+ of shippers would be willing to pay higher rates to work with a freight forwarder that provides better technology, visibility, and control. (Source: Freightwaves)
2. Customer expectations are rising, and they’re not willing to pay for more: 64 percent of consumers are unwilling to pay anything extra for two-day shipping. (Source: Deloitte)
3. 8 in 10 respondents to an Accenture survey of logistics companies recognize that investment in customer-facing automation is important or very important, yet it remains their lowest priority for investment. (Source: Accenture)

Innovation and Technology

1. Technology is key to meeting evolving expectations and improving efficiency, with AI and machine learning among the top trends influencing the freight forwarding industry. (Source: Forbes)
2. 90% of supply chain leaders have reported investing in digital supply chain management technology since 2021. 80% expect to continue to invest in 2023 and beyond. (Source: McKinsey)
3. In a survey by Accenture, 76% of respondents agreed with the statement, “Any Freight and Logistics company not focusing on building digital capabilities will seriously endanger their business.” (Source: Accenture)
4. Improving throughput, picking efficiency, and warehouse capacity utilization are the top operational priorities for improvement for the next two years. (Source: Supply Chain 24/7)
5. “Leading organizations are using advanced technologies to significantly improve visibility and thereby become far more responsive to major disruption and variability within their domestic, regional, and global supply chains.“ (Source: KPMG)
6. Automating manual freight forwarding processes now could reduce certain back-office and operational costs by up to 40%. (Source: BCG)
7. Security concerns (50%), compatibility with existing systems (47%), and staff’s acceptance of new software or their training (46%) are some of the biggest concerns buyers have when planning for software investment. (Source: Gartner)