The consignee plays an important role in any shipping business or exporter. Here’s how you can build the trust of international consignees to ensure a continued and uninterrupted loyal service throughout the whole process of delivery of goods.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Delivery of any shipment includes several participants. When a shipping consignment order is placed, the delivery is undertaken between a consignor and consignee via a delivery service.&nbsp;Here, the consignee is the entity who is financially responsible for the shipment delivery. In certain cases, the receiver of the goods may or may not be the same person. The individual may or may not also be considered as the owner of the goods delivered. At times, the consignee may also function as an agent that received goods from the consignor.&nbsp;However, no matter the role, the ownership of the goods is transferred only when the consignee has paid for goods delivered. If the goods are not sold, he or she will be held responsible for the inventory holding costs. At the same time, the consignee may also have to face the challenges of managing inventory related to the consignment, especially if multiple goods are assigned.&nbsp;The consignee plays an important role within the shipment delivery process. A consignor, or any other participant interacting with the consignee, would want to ensure that the relationship between them and the consignee is built on complete trust.&nbsp;<a href="https://cogoport.com/signup/en-IN/?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Here are some of the key factors you need to communicate if you want to build a relationship of trust between your consignee:Settle on the responsibility of Incoterms: Incoterms are a set of terms and conditions, which define the responsibility of the delivery of goods. Shippers normally use Incoterms as a means to spell out who’s responsible for the shipping, insurance and tariffs and other charges on an item. As a consignor communicating with a consignee in terms of delivery of goods, incoterms greatly reduce misunderstandings and minimise trade disputes and litigations, and thus goes a&nbsp;long way to provide excellent customer service between the two parties.&nbsp;Protection of goods through insurance: As a consignor, you will want to protect your goods. You would also not want your consignee to be caught off guard, in the event they have to pay for damaged goods, especially not owned by them. The best solution, in this case, is to inform your consignee to maintain a certain insurance coverage when the imported goods are under their responsibility. In doing so, your consignee will be well protected financially in the event that the goods are damaged during shipment.Duty of storage: Until the goods are delivered and sold, the responsibility of the storage lays in the hands of the consignee. Any damage to the goods in this duration will result in loss of funds for the consignor and consignee. In this case, you can convince your consignee to agree to a certain duty of storage care, ensuring the goods are handled and stored properly, thus protecting both parties financial interests.<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" alt="" width="300px">Buy out and stock rotation: It is the responsibility of the consignee to sell off the goods. Any delay in goods sold would result in a financial loss for the consignor, and loss of commission or even profit for the consignee. To protect the interest of both parties, it is best to set a time limit on the amount of time the consignee needs to sell its goods. If the time limit is not met, the consignee can either return the goods or purchase the goods for themselves, thus minimising financial loss.In any business, both local or even international, building a steady relationship between a consignor and a consignee is crucial for the growth and development of a business. The above-mentioned factors will go a long way to ensure that your business not only grows but also builds a better future. Sign up with Cogoport today to get the best service now!

How to Build a Relationship with Your Consignee

How to Build Trust and Strong Relationships with Your Consignee

In order to expand business presence across the world, a company needs to have a global product reach. It is desirable for companies to have a streamlined delivery mechanism in place, to bridge the gap between the consumers and them. <h3>Going Global</h3>Before planning the entire course of the shipment, you need to make sure that the goods you want to ship are not prohibited or restricted items in the destination country. You can do that by visiting official customs websites of the countries. <a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 1.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Some countries are easier to ship to than others. For example, India requires more personal documentation than most countries. It is important to be aware of the current geopolitical issues, this allows building trust with overseas partners. <h3>Do I Need Shipping Insurance? </h3>If a person wishes to ship a high-value item, they’re bound to assess the likelihood that the item may get lost, damaged or stolen. Therefore, it is important to get shipping insurance to have peace of mind when shipping goods internationally. There are numerous websites where one can generate shipping insurance. <h3>Start Shipping</h3>For a streamlined shipping experience, it is recommended if the entire process is automated. This will help in avoiding all intricacies involved in doing the work manually. Automation is taking over every industry, including shipping and logistics. Innovative companies like Cogoport have offered the consumers a platform to search for freight rates instantly and get transparency in tracking. Business owners should have a shipping tool which allows them to import all the individual’s orders from different sales channel onto one platform, automatically send tracking numbers, generate Bill of Lading, make sure the process is smooth, and schedule the pickups online.<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" alt="" width="300px"><h3>Duties and Taxes</h3>A shipper is bound to pay various duties and taxes when shipping internationally. Following are the two ways to pay for duties-<ul><li>Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU) - Duty is not included in the shipment cost and must be paid when the consignment arrives at the destination port.</li><li>Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) - Duty is included in the shipping cost and has already been paid before the consignment arrives at the destination port. </li></ul>Shipping cargo internationally demands a high level of documentation and declaration. However, there are numerous websites which make the task of documentation easier by doing 95% of the work.

Planning Your Next International Shipment

Planning International Shipping: Key Steps for Successful Global Trade

Shipping is an important and critical part of the global supply chain. How it is managed impacts the marketability of the product, brand image, relations with buyers, and the profit margin of the exporter.
Ocean freight rate, ancillary logistics costs, and end-to-end management of the shipment from pick up to delivery at the final destination become deciding factors in successfully delivering a shipment to its final destination.
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<h3>Why is the Ocean Freight Rate Important?</h3>
Transportation costs are a vital component of the complete cost of taking the product to market. Ocean freight rate is an integral part of the aggregate transport cost.
Although an estimated ocean freight rate is built into the product manufacturing costs, given its volatile nature and impact of currency exchange rates, it keeps changing frequently. When the actual shipment is delivered at a rate higher than estimates taken into account, it reduces the profit margin of the exporter.
This is why procuring freight rate at the right time and from the right service provider is an important part of the entire global supply chain.
Till recently, to ensure that they get the best possible freight rate, exporters would initiate the freight rate enquiry, negotiations, and procurement at least a month prior to the shipping date. The more conservative shippers would start the process as soon as their sales order was approved by the buyer.
Shippers with large annual volumes have the scope to negotiate a volume rate with their freight forwarders or shipping lines, thus they can, to an extent, safeguard their business against unforeseen changes in freight and currency exchange rates.
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Unfortunately, the low volume exporters or new exporters cannot avail of contracted ocean freight rates.
<h3>What&rsquo;s Wrong with the Traditional Way of Booking Freight and Managing Shipments?</h3>
The archaic way of buying freight involved interaction and follow up with least 3 &ndash; 4 shipping lines and freight forwarders for rates. To successfully manage shipment delivery till its final destination, an exporter also had to invest time and effort coordinating with his inland transport provider (trucker), customs house agent, bank, and insurance agent.
Not only was this process tedious but it also required a dedicated resource (sometimes an entire team) to manage the complete logistics of transporting cargo from one point to another. Human errors and communication gaps between various process - service stakeholders further slowed down the process.&nbsp;
<img class="center" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 25px; letter-spacing: -0.02em;" src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/fd6324a8675d27be6a05d8a309256687/Blog%20creative_Tech%20savy_R3-01.png" alt="Traditional Freight Booking Process" width="">
<h3>How is the Age-old Process Changing?</h3>
With technology taking over the traditional way of obtaining freight rates, getting a competitive ocean freight rate from different service providers has become easier, cost and time effective.
Advancements in technology has made it possible for exporters and importers to obtain rates within a matter of minutes from the comfort of their offices. Technology has also facilitated the current industry drive on integrating the different touch points of the global shipping process. Today, it has become possible for all the participants in the long drawn process of global shipping to connect on a single platform and perform their role in the business.
Apart from speed and process integration, the technological revolution in the freight industry has added efficiency and transparency to the entire freight booking and management process.
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<h3>How is Cogoport Simplifying Freight Booking and Shipment Management?</h3>
Being the frontrunner of the technological revolution in the Indian freight industry, Cogoport is working on eliminating the many redundancies and inefficiencies plaguing the freight booking and shipment management ecosystem.
By integrating all the stakeholders involved in the end-to-end shipping process, Cogoport is simplifying freight management and creating an industry environment that is based on trust, transparency,&nbsp;and reliability&nbsp;with speed&nbsp;enabling informed&nbsp;and faster&nbsp;decision making.
It has brought together all the touch points of an international shipping transaction. On the platform, shippers can connect with shipping lines, freight forwarders, truckers, insurance agents, and CHAs. They can obtain rate quotes, place bookings, and track the shipment till its final delivery in real time.
Knowing how time consuming follow up with the multiple stakeholders is, the platform has, to an extent, automated most of the freight management process and empowered the user to search, select vendors, place the booking and track it real time.
<img class="center" src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/4ff7b2dd335da693a1cbd19415ffc8da/Blog%20creative_Tech%20savy_R3-02.png" alt="Cogoport Process" width="">
<h3>Salient Features of Booking and Managing Freight on Cogoport</h3>
1. Personalised Dashboard:&nbsp;Create&nbsp;your own integrated global logistics management dashboard to connect all the touch points in your global supply chain.
2. Instant Rates:&nbsp;Get freight rate quotes from multiple shipping lines in a few simple steps.
3. Vessel Schedules:&nbsp;Access the sailing schedules of more than 30 shipping lines in one easy click.
4. Container Tracking:&nbsp;Track your container in real time till it reaches its final destination.
5. Document Wallet:&nbsp;Get&nbsp;your personal digital space to maintain all your shipping documents.
6. Digital Invoicing:&nbsp;Receive, manage, and pay your shipping invoices digitally.
7. Analytics:&nbsp;Get access to market driven freight rate trends and your shipment stats all at one place.
8. RFQs:&nbsp;If you don&rsquo;t find spot rate for your port pair, you can raise a request for a rate quote. Cogoport will do the rest!
To better understand how Cogoport can optimise your international shipping process,&nbsp;<a href="https://cogoport.com/signup">register</a>&nbsp;on the platform and explore the features yourself. Or connect with our customer success team to get an overview of Cogoport&rsquo;s services and products. Go Digital, Go Cogoport!

Manage Exports and Get Rates easily: Cogoport

Cogoport Shipment Process: How to Book, Track & Manage Your Cargo Online

Last week was all about my speaking sessions at Intermodal Europe and the ICT &amp; Logistics event. And this week? Another speaking session! I was honored to be invited to speak at the VNO NCW Women's Network event in Rotterdam. A home game for me.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 1.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (known as VNO-NCW) is the largest employers' organization in the Netherlands. VNO-NCW represents the common interests of Dutch business, both at home and abroad and provides a variety of services for its members. Over 160 (branch) associations are members, representing more than 185.000 enterprises. They cover almost all sectors of the economy, including more than 80% of all medium-sized companies in the Netherlands and nearly all of the larger, corporate institutions.The event’s theme was “She Inspires”. I spoke about my quest to make the freight industry efficient and transparent, how I got where I am today and the journey that took me there.The past week it was almost impossible to visit a news website and not read about Brexit. Other than this mention I promise not to go there this week. Obviously, there was a lot of other interesting things going on in the world of Freight and Tech. As usual, you can find the highlights below.<h3>Carriers, Freight, and what can happen to it...</h3>“Carriers said they are committed to ending their overreliance on pricing regimes that have sacrificed margins on the altar of market share and that have resulted in billions of dollars in losses. Yet such a dramatic shift to emphasizing value-added services is inherently risky. It requires substantial investments in processes and technology, costs that need to be recouped by attracting new high-margin business. It is unclear if users accustomed to enjoying cheap rates on sailing services will go for pricier, value-added solutions or would rather maintain the status quo.”<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>→ <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30230-container-line-transformation-faces-its-biggest-test-from-those-paying-the-bills" target="_blank">Container-line transformation faces its biggest test from those paying the bills</a>“Typhoon Mangkhut, meanwhile, struck the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China: all important areas for freight import and export. Transport services were suspended, flights canceled, trains stopped and major roads closed in Hong Kong where winds reached more than 110mph and water levels surged to 12 feet in some places.”“FM Global, a commercial and industrial property insurer surveyed 101 senior financial executives at Fortune 1000 organizations just after hurricane season last year. In the report, 64% of the respondents said the hurricane season had an adverse impact on their business, and among those impacted, 62% were not completely prepared to deal with the effects.”→ <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/freight-surge-blowback-hurricane-michael-florence/542176/" target="_blank">October freight surge blown back by devastating storms</a>If you move your containers door to door via the Cogoport Platform, you will never be in doubt who is responsible for your cargo on any leg of the journey.“Containers frequently pass from one company to another on their long journey, and holding the correct party responsible can be difficult to ascertain with so many touchpoints.”→ <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/containers/companies-paying-billions-for-damage" target="_blank">Container, trailer damage costs companies billions, even when not at fault</a><a href="/signup?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-2.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>Sustainability</h3>“A coalition of ports in Europe and the US are demanding the shipping industry deliver on the Paris Climate Agreement.Among those demanding action are six of the top ports in Europe and the US, Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Rotterdam, which have launched the World Ports Climate Action Initiative.”→ Container shipping and charity set their combined sights on 'greener' seas<h3>Data and Analytics</h3>While Michael Lewis, author of the Moneyball book (have you seen that movie?), was speaking about the trucking industry, this goes for the ocean freight industry as well. It is why the Cogoport platform is designed to increase insight for its users.“The freight industry could see sweeping changes in leadership as the sector goes through growing pains to adjust to a new age of big data and analytics, author Michael Lewis said ......"We're living in a moment where we're beginning to understand that data has magical possibilities," said Lewis, who is known for nonfiction book titles including Liar's Poker and The Big Short.”→ <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30226-author-michael-lewis-sees-turbulent-future-for-freight-markets-in-age-of-big-data" target="_blank">Author Michael Lewis sees turbulent future for freight markets in age of big data</a><h3>Freight Tech</h3>I love Tech. Whether it’s innovative IT solutions, or more operational solutions like autonomous ships, cars, or drones, Trucks and drones this week.“Last week, Einride started running its all-electric, human-free truck on a commercial route. The “T-pod” is moving pallets of goods between warehouses run by German logistics giant Schenker, in the southern Swedish city of Jönköping. It’s a small, one-year commercial deal: Einride is operating just one truck for the time being, and covering about six miles a day, some of it on public roads, at speeds below 25 mph.”→ <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/einride-self-driving-electric-truck-sweden/" target="_blank">Want to make an all-star electric truck? Drop the driver</a>“As cities across the U.S. look to reduce congestion on their streets, more are taking deliveries and safety initiatives to the skies, with a new drone initiative from the federal government helping drive those efforts.”→ <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/drone-deliveries-medical-food-disaster/542020/" target="_blank">For drone deliveries, the sky's the limit</a>

Freight, Sustainability, Analytics, and Tech

This Week in Ocean Freight (18/11/15): Market Trends & Shipping Updates

What a week. There were two big logistics events in the Netherlands and I spoke at both. At Mulitmodal Europe in Rotterdam I spoke about container optimization and the repositioning of empties. For those that weren&rsquo;t there I will write a blog post about it and share it here.
The other event was the ICT &amp; Logistics event in Utrecht where I spoke about how booking a container should be just as fast an easy as booking a hotel. A big thank you to the many people that came to the sessions.
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It&rsquo;s too bad both events were at the same time. I still got to meet a lot of new and interesting people, was interviewed about data and freight in the digital era and got a lot of inspiration from what other companies are doing.
Our new President of Supplier Relations &amp; International Growth Flemming Frost accompanied me to all events. Read more about Flemming in the post from our Founder Shekhar <a href="https://www.cogoport.com/blogs/welcome-on-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
I didn&rsquo;t have much time this week, so there are less highlights then usual when it comes to news and interesting reading material that I came across this week. Anyway, here goes:
<h3>The Chinese Economy</h3>
&ldquo;Given that Chinese imports account for nearly half of all container imports moving over U.S. ports, one would be excused for prematurely jumping to the conclusion that U.S. port volumes are at great risk&mdash;as are the logistics and transportation jobs associated with moving Chinese imports from the port of entry to distribution centers and on to final demand markets. But let&rsquo;s not hit the panic button just yet.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.supplychain247.com/article/how_will_the_tariff_war_with_china_affect_u.s._container_ports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How will the tariff war with China affect U.S. container ports?</a>
&ldquo;China&rsquo;s exports climbed 15.6% in October, versus the same month a year ago, in US dollar terms&mdash;way higher than what analysts expected. The real surprise, though, was the eye-popping 21.4% year-over-year leap in Chinese imports. That&rsquo;s odd given that China&rsquo;s economy is slowing abruptly again, which should translate to sluggish demand for goods from consumers and businesses.&rdquo;
<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" alt="" width="300px">
&rarr; <a href="https://qz.com/1456033/despite-us-tariffs-chinas-trade-soared-in-october-it-may-not-last" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Despite US tariffs, China&rsquo;s trade soared in October. It may not last.</a>
<h3>Scrubbers</h3>
&ldquo;The decision on whether to invest in scrubber technology on containerships, ahead of the IMO&rsquo;s 0.5% sulphur cap on 1 January 2020, has resulted in ocean carriers adopting a &ldquo;polarised&rdquo; approach, according to an Alphaliner survey.&rdquo;
&rarr; Carriers still weighing up pros and cons of scrubbers vs switch to low-sulphur fuel
<h3>Logistics Tech</h3>
Gartner has published their predictions on strategic tech trends for 2019 again.
&ldquo;While most shippers, brokers, carriers, vendors, and warehouse operators will agree that the logistics industry is awash in emerging technologies, Gartner said its study focuses only on those trends that have substantial disruptive potential that is beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and could reach a tipping point over the next five years.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30215-gartner-flags-10-strategic-tech-trends-for-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gartner flags 10 strategic tech trends for 2019</a>
I couldn&rsquo;t agree more with the quote below, although I think that for the forseeable future there is more to be gained from automating processes, then automating vehicles. Automating processes is one of the reasons our platform increases efficiency.
&ldquo;Most transport companies say innovation and automation will help transform the industry by helping to boost productivity and reduce costs, according to the survey.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30205-geopolitics-technological-innovation-top-global-transport-industry-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Geopolitics, technological innovation top global transport industry concerns</a>
One of the barriers blocking the adoption of new technology is one that we made sure is not applicable to our platform: investment. No need to invest. Joining the platform is free and the cost per shipment you pay for using Cogoport are a small percentage of the total cost you save using it.
&ldquo;Barriers to adopting technology persist &ndash; with transport companies citing the major challenges to adopting technology-driven innovation as cost and investment (71%)&rdquo;
&rarr; Automation to Define Future of Transport But There are Obstacles
And two infographics from the people over at FreightWaves on the rise of Transportation Tech.
&rarr; <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/infographics/venture-capital-trends-part-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transport Tech Rising: Venture Capital Trends (Part 2)</a>
&rarr; <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/infographics/transpor-tech-rising-part-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transport Tech Rising: Venture Capital Trends (Part 3)</a>
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/uUXB3EPgVp4?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mikkel J&ouml;nck Schmidt</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/container-cranes-rotterdam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unsplash</a>

The Chinese Economy and Logistics Tech

This Week in Ocean Freight (09/11/18): Key Market Insights & Shipping News

Developing a great website is the first step of creating an amazing online presence. Once the website is up and running it needs traffic, and the only way to achieve it is to have a top-notch Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in place. SEO is a perfect blend of art and technology to boost the organic traffic of the website so that it is visible on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). A company’s website is the only visual representation of the company, which helps in gaining traction from consumers who are in need of its services- the only way to achieve this is to increase traffic by deploying various methods to make sure that the website is user-friendly while maintaining good response time.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 1.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>We, at Cogoport, know the importance of having a good SEO score, and use a plethora of methods to make sure, a user who searches for certain keywords, lands on our website. How are we able to achieve the perfect blend of website traffic and user-experience? We have incorporated industry-leading strategies to make www.cogoport.com a best-in-class marketplace for freight.<h3>Proper HTML Structure</h3>Every web developer dreads a website which lacks basic HTML structure and has innumerable errors. An improper structure opens countless pathways for page load errors and broken links. Also, Google’s crawlers pay no heed to a website which lacks structure. Therefore, the entire Cogoport website is written using semantic markup, meaning all the pages have a proper ‘header’, ‘main’, ‘nav’, ‘article’, ‘section’, ‘aside’, ‘address’ and ‘footer’. This has enabled us to score a high page rank score.<a href="https://cogoport.com/signup/en-IN/?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>Crisp Content</h3>Without a crisp and tailored content, any website is a mere template, and in no way serves the purpose of a platform that a user understands. Our team has created an ironclad SEO-friendly content guideline, which enables us to ease the process for our customers through our high-quality content. A user, who lands on our website easily finds the desired service- this improves our bounce rate and results in a 100% conversion. A high-quality SEO-friendly website contains quality keywords, optimized article length, and a good Page Load Speed.<h3>Meta Tags</h3>Meta Tags are snippets of the text available on the website, they don’t appear on the page itself, but are displayed when the webpage is shown on the search engine page. They provide information to the user about the website’s description. <h3>Canonical Tags</h3>A canonical tag specifies the source URL of a page to a search engine (such as Google). The idea is to declare a single page as its own source or for duplicate pages to reference their source or originating page in order to attain proper indexing. Suppose a single company owns multiple domains, all of them having the same content, Google’s crawlers may mark it as plagiarised- to avoid this we add a canonical tag in the code, letting Google’s crawlers know that all domains belong to a single website.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 2.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>Server-side Rendering</h3>Cogoport developers have successfully implemented Server-Side Rendering (SSR) on the website. SSR is a popular technique for rendering a client-side only Single Page App (SPA) on the server and sending a fully rendered page to the client. SSR helps in performing well on devices which have minimum processing power, as the server sends a fully loaded app to the device. SSR allows faster page load speed for our website, which is essential for improving user experience.

Cogoport and SEO - A Perfect Blend

How to Achieve a Perfect SEO Score for Your Website: Tips & Strategies

e-Way Bill Update: CGST Amendment Rules 2018

Amendments to Eway Bill: Latest Updates for Indian Exporters & Importers

India has
managed to break into the top 100 countries in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking. In the
latest rankings published by the World Bank, India was ranked 100. This is a
major progress from the previous year’s rank of 130. 



While this
is an important achievement for the country, India is still lagging behind in
certain important parameters like Trading across Borders, where it is ranked
146 among 190 countries. 



What is Trading across Borders ranking



The
Trading across Borders parameter is important as it measures the efficiency
with which certain compliances associated with the import-export procedure are
carried out. 



For rating performance on Trading across Borders, the World Bank looks at the time and
the cost attached with the logistical process involved in export-import trade of a
country.&nbsp;To arrive at a ranking, World Bank studies the time and the cost
(excluding tariff) attached with 3 sets of procedures namely - documentary
compliance, border compliance, and domestic transport involved in the entire
export-import procedure. 



The digitialisation drive by Ministry
of Shipping



To
improve upon this facet of international trade, the Ministry of Shipping has
made&nbsp;it mandatory to exchange/transfer trade documents - e-invoice, e-payment, and e-Delivery Order - in digital form via the
Port Community System (PCS). Earlier this facility was available only for DPD
container clearance at JNPT Port, but now with the latest notification (link
given below), the PCS facility has been extended to all stakeholders like
terminals, CFSs, ICDs, and other Major Ports where the Port Community System is
available.&nbsp;The Port
Community System (PCS) is the integrated web-based message exchange platform for the entire maritime community
operated by Indian Ports Association (IPA).



The PCS is
directly linked to ICEGate, a portal operated by the Customs to digitalise trade processes
such as filing of import and export documentation, payment, and document status
tracking. This will help in easy transfer of information from one system to
another. (Source: Ministry
of Shipping Notification)



Is it enough?



While digitizing
these processes will definitely help in improving the turnaround time of the
listed processes, at the same time, it is also important to note that these are
not the only issues at Indian Ports that affect the turnaround time of the
shipments. 



According
to the <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Politics/Ss11a6xyvpnhWRTXcaoRnM/Better-port-ecosystem-to-help-boost-Indias-ease-of-doing-bu.html">report</a>,
Port Logistics: Issues and Challenges in
India, authorized by the Niti Aayog, published by Dun &amp;
Bradstreet (DNB) in February 2018, port
congestion, shipping line issues and charges, regulatory clearances, customs
clearances, documentation and paperwork are the major issues that result in
detention and demurrage charges incurred by importers. In other words, these
issues are responsible for causing a delay in processing shipments. 



Among the
points listed in the DNB report, port congestion is the main pain point. If our
ports can work on improving infrastructure issues, it would be easier to implement
and execute the new initiatives. 



Instead of
looking at these parameters separately, it would probably be better if the policy
framers looked at the entire trade activity holistically – which includes documentation,
shipping lines, port operations, traders, policies and laws of trade, and
service providers like CFS, stevedores, rail and road transporters, and terminal
operators. 



A
holistic approach would ensure that in an attempt to fix one problem, we would
not give rise to or disrupt another sector of the trade. The loss
of business and employment suffered by CFS operators providing service when
the DPD model was extended to all importers at JNPT is a case in point. 







To
know more about Direct Port Delivery, click <a href="https://www.cogoport.com/en-IN/blogs/direct-port-delivery">here</a>.Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready">Ease of Doing Business Ranking,
World Bank</a>

<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready">Trading
across Borders, World Bank</a>

Ministry of Shipping
Notification

Digitalizing Shipping: Boosting India's Business

Digitalisation Drive by Ministry of Shipping: Transforming Indian Maritime Industry

<img src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/7928782654bd854eaabf72f874ad8196/Cogoport_7%20Facts%20About%20Shipping%20Industry_Blog%20creative-04%20%283%29.png" alt="interesting facts infographic" class="center" width=""> Reference:90% of Everything by Rose GeorgeStatista.comThe Internet!

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