New Research: 88% of high-growth companies look to tech to tackle trade challenges

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, released findings from its study What Companies are Doing to Tackle Escalating Global Supply Chain Challenges.

The study shows that 74% of the supply chain and logistics leaders surveyed view technology as fundamental or highly important to their organization’s growth strategy in the face of rising global trade challenges, such as tariffs and trade barriers, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical instability. This number jumps to 88% for companies expecting greater than 15% growth over the next two years. In addition, 59% consider technology as extremely or very important to provide a competitive advantage in international trade.

When considering what technology capabilities are expected to help companies involved in international trade enable business growth and gain a competitive advantage, 36% cited global trade intelligence as the top capability required to deliver the greatest value in the next two years. This was followed by global trade analytics at 27% and by supply chain mapping at 26% (see Figure 1)

Figure 1: Top capabilities required to deliver the greatest business value in the next 2 years

Source: Descartes/SAPIO

Results also showed that respondents across all industries agreed that global trade intelligence was the top technology capability expected to deliver the greatest value over the next two years, including, for example, in manufacturing (40%), wholesale and distribution (44%), finance and insurance (38%), and retail (30%) sectors.

“For companies in diverse industries, global trade has become much more complex, with many new challenges to traditional business operations,” said Jackson Wood, Director, Industry Strategy at Descartes. “As businesses contend with tariffs and trade barriers, geopolitical instability, supply chain disruptions and compliance requirements, technology tools can help them build greater agility and resilience into their supply chains to compete more effectively.”

Descartes and SAPIO Research surveyed 978 supply chain intelligence leaders in key trading nations across Europe, North and South America, and Asia-Pacific. The goal was to understand the strategies, tactics and technologies used by companies involved in international trade to help gain a competitive advantage and ensure continued business growth, and to identify if these varied by factors such as country, industry, company size and business growth. Respondents are members of company leadership teams, from management level to Chief Executive Officer or Owner. To learn more, read the study What Companies are Doing to Tackle Escalating Global Supply Chain Challenges.