Imagine a Yanomami tribe member in the Amazon jungles of Venezuela or Brazil buying something from Amazon.com and two weeks later receiving it. Farfetched? Well, let's just say the scenario is not as remote as it seems. Major integrated delivery companies are working with online business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers to solve the logistical impediments and customs snafus perplexing the world of e-commerce.

Just how will the electronic retailers and their transport partners deliver on their promise to fulfill orders globally when they have trouble meeting commitments in the United States? If Toys R Us online can't deliver presents to American kids in time for Christmas, how will it meet similar commitments in Latin America? How can e-tailers span the world when they can't even make it to Dubuque?

Good questions all, and ones that are uppermost in the minds of virtual companies. Beset by logistical confusion last year compromising their order-fulfillment strategies, e-tailers are working with United Parcel Service, DHL Worldwide, and FedEx, among others, to move electronically transacted goods to the remotest parts of the globe. "We're creating new value-chain models that help brick-and-mortar companies extend to a brick-and-click model," explains Angela McMahon, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based UPS.

"We're integrating the physical and the virtual world, working directly with customers and collaborating with our alliance partners, companies like Oracle and SAP, to move goods where they must be moved-no matter where it is in the world," McMahon promises.

Okay, so somebody in a rural village in Argentina can order a book from Amazon.com and get it in less than two weeks? "Yes," McMahon replies with nary a pause. "And during that time, the person-if she or he has access to the Internet from a telephone or wireless device-can even ascertain where that book is during the order-fulfillment process."

McMahon apparently is an optimist. There are so many obstacles thwarting the development of e-commerce in Latin America that one is hard pressed to imagine what she envisions. Aside from the extreme poverty, there are huge infrastructural issues, from poor telephone service to even poorer roads. Few people have credit cards, and credit cards are cash tender in the Internet mall. Not many have computers, and those who do are beleaguered by the cost of Internet access.

Even if such impediments were surmounted, it's a stretch to imagine a rural villager without a bona fide home address receiving a book from Amazon.com, much less receiving regular mail. Yet, McMahon says, the obstacles can be overcome. "I agree that telephone service is a problem in developing regions, yet that is precisely why cellular phones and wireless devices are proliferating in those parts," she says.

"We've partnered with a company called Air2Web.com that allows people to log onto the Internet from their wireless devices-from PDAs [personal digital assistants] to cell phones. Someone with a wireless phone in Brazil can buy from Amazon.com with the device, track the goods en route, pay for the merchandise online and receive it within two weeks in many cases. This is possible and very cool."

Global Providers Act Locally

All right, so we buy the wireless connection. But what about the remote geography and difficult topography? Are UPS's ubiquitous brown trucks able to traverse such rough terrain? McMahon says partnerships with local transport companies smoothes the problem. "To fortify our Latin American operations, we have purchased Challenge Air Cargo, a highly regarded air-freight forwarder in the region," she explains.

The company also partners with e-commerce giants like Amazon.com, Buy.com, and LandsEnd.com to be their outsourced logistical arm. "If somebody in Argentina bought something off Amazon, our office in Buenos Aires would receive the shipment, and then we'd route it on Challenge to the city nearest the buyer," McMahon says. "Challenge Air has its own relationships with local motor carriers to deliver the package to the end user."

Cayce Roy, Amazon.com director and general manager of transportation in its Seattle headquarters, says UPS and Amazon have been working together since April to ensure UPS's transportation capabilities are in place to meet the company's high order-fulfillment expectations. "We're jointly developing plans to make sure the appropriate capacities for the UPS air and ground networks are in place," Roy explains.

"Most of the plans are designed to enable peak volumes to flow rapidly through the UPS network," he adds. During such peak times, twice-daily debriefs will take place between UPS and Amazon. The debriefs will use real-time volume forecasts, giving Amazon the ability to "implement contingencies for unexpected occurrences if needed," Roy says.

Additionally, UPS will have dedicated management at each Amazon distribution center to ensure flawless communication and support 24 hours a day. "Last year we delivered more than 99 percent of packages on time for the holidays," says Roy. "We're working to do even better this year."

FedEx Corp. also has gone to great lengths to establish a complete Latin American network in order to meet the needs of e-commerce companies, says Francisco Santeiro, managing director of global trade services in Miami. The biggest snafu, Santeiro contends, is customs clearance. "There are some e-commerce transactions that do not generate a physical invoice, which can create serious problems as far as customers receiving goods for which they transacted," he explains.

FedEx is working with government officials in several Latin American and Caribbean countries to establish customs standards and compliance guidelines. "We're trying to convince them to modernize and reform customs law along the lines of the standards created by the World Customs Organization, a group representing customs officials from around the world," he says.

Like UPS, FedEx has inked contractual agreements with local forwarding companies to engineer the final leg of transport to customers, all of whom adhere to FedEx's guidelines for service and safety, Santeiro says. "As more and more novice international shippers, particularly those in the e-commerce sector, enter our system, it is our goal to make sure the experience is as positive as possible," he adds. "We have invested quite a bit of capital into customer services, guiding shippers through the many forms and documents required to move shipments through customs hassle free."

FedEx also helps e-tailers in the United States determine the landed cost of their goods. "When you're selling to someone on a global basis through the Internet, it is very hard to factor in the duties, taxes, and transport costs into the final cost of the product sold," Santeiro explains. "This is a huge issue in the B2C environment. Often, someone will buy a computer online only to be stunned by the price tag once local taxes and value added taxes, et cetera are added. Given that brand is everything, a buyer who feels misled is not about to tout your wares."

DHL Worldwide also is investing heavily in the global e-commerce market. The company announced plans in September to open an express logistics center near Cincinnati to "help businesses operate seamlessly and efficiently on a global scale," says David Douthit, DHL's director of worldwide express logistics. In the past two years, DHL has spent some $30 million building its infrastructure to handle more cargo, particularly e-commerce-originated freight. Last year, it acquired DHL S.A., an Argentina-based local contract carrier, and it reportedly is spending up to $10 million this year on improving service in the country.

It Will Take More Than Infrastructure Improvements

While expectations run high that global e-commerce will become as efficient as traditional commerce, there are bumps in the road. Peter Spano vice president of Global Reach Inc., a New York-based Internet web marketing company, says what is truly stymieing global e-commerce is not bad roads but language differences and the lack of widespread credit card use. "I think companies like UPS and FedEx are solving the infrastructure problems of moving goods to the final destination, but what about someone in Brazil who doesn't understand English, maybe can't even read, and has no chance of obtaining a credit card?" Spano says.

While McMahon asserts that global freight delivery is "where we were in the US ten years ago with domestic freight delivery," Spano finds it a bit farfetched. "That is a simplistic perspective," he says, adding, "We've made great strides, no question. The Internet is more available than ever before, especially through wireless devices. This year there will be more non-English-speaking people connected to the Internet than English-speaking people. That's a watershed moment. But we're still some ways off before this globe is truly connected through e-commerce."