The rise in South Africa’s e-commerce market is not slowing down following its sharp uptake during the Great Pandemic of 2020. What was once seen as nice-to-have is providing to be an increasing central shopping channel for South Africans. Fatima Khota, business unit manager, Point-Of-Sale Division at Rectron South Africa looks at how smart transaction systems and devices can enhance efficiencies and drive growth of the country’s transport and logistics sector.

According to Zebra Technology 2023 Warehousing Vision Study, 73% of decision makers in the warehouse industry have already started or currently plan to accelerate timelines for modernisations projects. It states that 69% of them have or are planning to automate workflows.

Associates, or hands-on professionals, overwhelmingly (86%) agree that implementing warehouse technologies, robotics and devices would improve productivity and help attract and retain workers, despite alarmists claiming technology will steal jobs.

This comes as the South African Government looks to improve the country’s logistics system to “improve its efficiency and position it for the future through rapid and fundamental change”.

This is according to the 2023 Roadmap for the Freight Logistics System in South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted a clear plan to guide this change.

For instance, port terminals will be significantly upgraded through innovate public-private partnerships, with the view to bring down the cost of transporting and managing goods, ultimately benefitting consumers.

Thus, South Africa’s transport and logistics sector stands at a crossroads where the adoption of technology can unlock tremendous value in the economy, simply by creating systems that move goods quicker and more efficiently.

Growing demand for logistics

Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, even the most technophobic consumers have taken to shopping online. For some, it is fast becoming a primary channel for retail.

In addition to local e-commerce sites like Loot, Takealot and Amazon’s locally warehoused operation – as well as the fast-growing digital fast food and grocery shopping services – South Africans are also increasingly using international online shopping apps like Shein, AliExpress and Temu.

This is inevitably testing the country’s logistics networks, not just for online delivery, but for accuracy, safety (physical and cyber security) and reliability. With transport logistics having long struggled with ageing infrastructure, upgrading the system now offers a unique opportunity to not just patch things up using the same methods, but adopt an entirely new way of communicating and transporting across various nodes.

An Internet of Things (IoT) enabled network could link public infrastructure (roads, ports, and rail) with warehouses and transport logistics companies, including the growing ecosystem of smaller operators serving as order fulfilment agents.

Emerging technologies

Logistics companies are adopting a host of technologies to manage their processes – like mobile computers, RFID scanners, label printers and AI-enable software – taking care of the entire journey of the product from supplier to end user.

The use of analytics ensures that the logistics operation, from warehouse to consumer, optimises available resources to dispatch mass orders with precision, limited errors and minimal handling.

Partnering with Zebra Technologies, Rectron is supporting the ever-expanding ecosystem of transport logistics providers in South Africa with operational visibility across the supply chain to connect assets, people processes and inventory.

Zebra’s innovative technology solutions, using data collection, enable a frictionless chain of custody, reliable accuracy and real-time informed decision-making.

By streamlining workflows, the integrated suite of warehouse, terminal (or yard) and fleet solutions, help maximise operational efficiency by improving asset utilization and accelerate productivity. This, in turn, increases profitability, while meeting rising customer expectations.

Accurate, real-time tracking – through Zebra’s enterprise asset intelligence system – supports continuous operational optimisation and flawless delivery that customers can rely on.

As a trusted Zebra distributor, Rectron embodies this robust, continuously improving efficiency in its own smart operations.

Not only is Rectron adopting the same level of technological sophistication in its own operations but enhancing the skills of its employees, as well as those of its channel network, ensuring that it clearly demonstrates the real-time usage and understanding of this rapidly evolving tool set.