Digital Forwarders: A Market Oriented Taxonomy

Abstract

Digital forwarders are a rather new phenomenon in the logistics market. They claim benefits for shippers and freight carriers alike and threaten established players in the market. As a lot of digital forwarders are still situated in a start-up phase, the phenomenon has not yet arrived thoroughly in scientific discussions. Digital forwarders are not necessarily alike each other but try to cover various market segments. To enable a profound analysis of digital forwarders, this paper presents an empirically based taxonomy to serve as a starting point for both theoretical and practical discussions. The taxonomy was created through an iterative process by analyzing major digital forwarders in the market. The taxonomy consists of three major types within the digital forwarding market, being international full service, direct contract trucking and niche digital forwarder.