SEKO expands ‘white glove’ e-commerce delivery services

SEKO Logistics is expanding its special-care e-commerce delivery services – a.k.a. the “white glove” treatment – to include installation and setup of bulkier items that are traditionally bought in-store, such as furniture and fitness equipment, which consumers are now increasingly purchasing online.

The services will also include the syncing of smart devices with the new appliances, removal of packaging and connecting with the forwarder’s web-based logistics platform, so shippers can manage their account information and track shipments.

“We have been successfully developing our home-delivery services for several years,” president and CEO James Gagne said, “so the decision to launch a full assembly solution is a natural progression for us.”

The company has harnessed a share of the continually increasing demand for e-commerce products, completing about 1 million white-glove deliveries in 2017, a figure it forecasts will double by 2020.

While the dollar signs associated with the demand for e-commerce may attract various industry players, there is still some ambiguity surrounding which party the associative costs of moving large, heavy items should fall upon in the supply chain. With a new expectation from consumers to receive e-commerce products to their doorsteps without having to pay for shipping costs, it will be interesting to see how logistics companies strategize, and if we will see the burden begin to shift back toward e-commerce consumers.