Logistics support to electronic commerce in Brazil: Trends and constraints

Abstract

The FedEx pioneering hub-and-spoke courier service launched in the US thirty years ago has positively impacted commerce in North America by reducin g inventory levels, expediting express shipments, and fostering the rapid growth of new e-commerce enterprises. In Brazil, the trend is to conce ntrate ecommerce on large firms, with a long tradition in retail operations. The nonexistence of high-standard distribution services is restraining the entrance of smaller firms in the process. We examine in the paper the possible utilization of excess hold capacity in inter-city bus lines as a logistics basis to express shipments in Brazil. The challe nge is to establish an effective logistics network linking bus firms in order to achie ve the required standards. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.