Insights To Innovate: A UPS Learning Session
UPS discussed the results of its 2019 UPS Industrial Buying Dynamics Asia Pacific Study, which finds B2B buyers here in the region doing much of their purchasing online, and at the same time relying heavily on offline relationships and seeking out solid after-sales service. The study, which surveyed more than 3,400 industrial purchasers globally, including 600 from companies across China, Japan, and Thailand, offers valuable regionlevel insights and specific market-level traits that can help B2B businesses better connect with buyers in Asia.
Speaking in front of UPS clients in Clark (Pampanga), Chris Buono, Managing Director, UPS Philippines, showed their business partners how to up their businesses. “There are 5 ways that we (UPS) can help streamline distribution to fuel your supply chain global growth by Transportation Management, Global Spares Distribution, Visibility, Quality and Compliance, and Sustainability,” expressed Buono.
The event INSIGHTS TO INNOVATE: UPS Learning Session for Global Manufacturers and Retailers presented representatives from PHILEXPORT R3 (Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc.), CILA (Clark Investors and Locators Associations), and UPS last November 6.
“What we see in Asia is that business relationships are not one dimensional – online channels are popular, but so too are more traditional forms of buying, and this presents a real balancing act for those who want to sell in this region,” said Sylvie Van Den Kerkhof, Vice President of Marketing, UPS Asia Pacific Region. “The data suggests that businesses wanting to work in Asian markets need to ensure that their ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar operations are both optimized and integrated, while ensuring that postsales services, such as returns, offer a seamless experience for buyers.”
“Our key takeaway is that solutions should aim to balance the convenience and innovation of advanced technologies with human touchpoints. Software, no matter how smart, is hard pressed to replace the impact and rapport of interpersonal relations,” Buono noted.
Where in other regions, shifting demographics have a much bigger role to play in purchasing behavior, to be successful here in Asia, a recommended approach is to consider buyers by job responsibility, rather than nationality or age demographic. As the study shows, Asia is a region of tremendous complexity –one where all buyers are focused on the targeted demands of service for their organizations.
The report found strong indications that online buying is set to increase, with Asian buyers saying they plan to use this channel more within the next five years. Amongst those that prefer making purchases online, Japanese buyers purchase online at a higher rate (31 percent) than buyers in both China and Thailand (both at 14 percent). Meanwhile, in Thailand, companies with higher budgets report that in the next three to five years, they are more likely to move purchasing online; and in China, mobile online purchasing is seeing stronger growth than in other Asian nations.