APIS: THE (POTENTIAL) DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY ACCELERANT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED IMPORTERS, EXPORTERS AND THEIR LOGISTICS PROVIDERS

We are entering a period of dynamic and fundamental change in the logistics industry. The communication and collaborative aspects of the Internet are changing the way firms develop their logistics strategies, processes, and systems. Internet and digital technologies help facilitate information sharing and logistics synchronization between trading partners and service providers. This includes the use of APIs (applied program interfaces). Companies that embrace the API paradigm and the opportunity it presents can lower operating costs, achieve better logistics and supply chain integration, and increase market power through customer-focused fulfillment. Successful (large company) examples in this regard include Amazon, Target, Coca-Cola, Walmart, Costco, Apple, Ford, ExxonMobil, Cargill, Proctor & Gamble, as well as delivery companies such as UPS and FedEx. However, what about small and medium-sized importers and exporters and their logistics providers? Are these often under-resourced firms keeping up with such changes and opportunities? If not, why not? To date, the study of digital technology change and API utilization as it applies to small and medium-sized importers and exporters has been ignored by the logistics and supply chain research and literature. To help address this gap, this article describes the fragmentation and ongoing evolution of this logistics and digital technology landscape. We also identify and analyze the various parties who supply logistics data to this ecosystem. Finally, the article explains how APIs work and can help mitigate the data isolation experienced by such importers and exporters, including the utilization of legal tools such as Terms of Service and API License Agreements to manage corresponding legal risk.