Delivering to order: How SMEs are benefiting from logistics partnerships

The more complex global trade becomes, the more pressure falls on small and medium-sized businesses to deliver faster, more cost-effective and smarter services. Strategic logistics partners can help.

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Introduction
A squeeze on SMEs
Technology and transparency
The strategic side of logistics

Introduction

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of the global economy. They generate more than two-thirds of the world’s jobs¹ and contribute up to 40% of GDP in emerging economies.² But, despite their collective impact, each of these businesses faces the same challenge: finding a way through the tangled web of global logistics.

The Covid-19 pandemic inflicted severe damage on global supply chains, forcing many SMEs to pivot rapidly from business-to-business to direct-to-consumer models – and then back again. These shifts, combined with inflated transport costs and imbalances between capacity and demand, have made international shipping riskier and more expensive than ever.

In this new era of disruption, the burden of delivery has weighed heavily on the SMEs with limited internal resources. New research conducted by FedEx and the Financial Times shows how these small businesses are confronted with a range of challenges as they expand internationally.

“SMEs have ridden a real rollercoaster,” says Daniel Vines, senior vice-president of sales for Europe at FedEx. “They’re in an ecosystem that’s very complex, very challenging and often quite difficult to navigate.”

A squeeze on SMEs

In terms of logistics, SMEs have less room for error than larger businesses: a delayed delivery, a lost package or a hidden customs fee represents more than just a minor setback. When every shipment counts, it can threaten the bottom line.

Customers used to be willing to pay extra for premium international shipping, but today they expect fast, affordable delivery as standard.

“We operate in a data-driven environment where people expect to get a courier service for a postal-type cost offering,” explains Vines. In this climate, and as FedEx founder and chairman Fred Smith said, the “information about the package is as important as the package itself”.

Logistics in 2025 is about visibility, control and trust. SMEs are calling on logistics companies to be service providers, but also strategic partners that offer tools, insights and guidance through labyrinthine global trade networks.

We operate in a data-driven environment where people expect to get a courier service for a postal-type cost offering.

Daniel Vines
Senior vice-president of sales for Europe, FedEx

Technology and transparency

This is where a dependable logistics partner like FedEx steps in. On a purely practical level, the benefits are clear: FedEx gives SMEs access to a vast and well-established global network, shipping an average of 17 million consignments a day across 220 countries worldwide.

“We’ve got extensive capabilities in over 32 European markets: three air hubs, 27 road hubs, and more than 5,000 pick-up and delivery stations,” says Vines. “That gives businesses the confidence that we operate at a local as well as a global scale.”

While much of FedEx’s strength lies in its “hub-and-spoke” physical infrastructure, says Vines, it extracts most value from the integration of that infrastructure with digital technologies: “It allows us to monitor the fingerprint of a package wherever it’s moving through the network.”

During its journey from sender to recipient, each FedEx shipment is scanned up to 25 times, providing real-time tracking and full visibility up to the moment of delivery. For SMEs, this transparency can make a critical difference in their ability to respond quickly and effectively to any potential disruptions.

“We continue to invest heavily in the development of tracking and monitoring and intervention for all types of commerce,” says Vines. “These are the tools and technology to support customers along the journey of a shipment.”

The strategic side of logistics

Of course, the true challenge of logistics is about more than simply moving goods from A to B. Trade imbalances, shifting regulations and rising geopolitical tensions have made global trade patterns increasingly unpredictable.

In this context, the value of a seasoned logistics partner goes beyond the practical. With a global view of trade, providers like FedEx can offer strategic support, delivering expertise and insight – alongside all the eagerly awaited packages – to help SMEs expand confidently into unfamiliar markets.

“One of the biggest pain points that people come up against is understanding the complexity of the local market that they’re shipping to,” says Vines.

That complexity is prompting many SMEs to rethink logistics – not as a back-end function, but as a critical extension of their business and brand. And as SMEs grow increasingly agile and globally minded, they expect more from their logistics partners.

“The young entrepreneurs of today will be the SMEs of tomorrow, the multinationals of the future,” says Vines. “So you’re engaging with a very different type of customer than you were 10 or 15 years ago. There’s a greater appreciation for a strong logistics arm. But it’s also on us to ensure we offer the right channels of connectivity, so that doing business with us feels simple – even when the background is so complex.”