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LIEGE 2025

e-Commerce in Liège Cargoland

Liege Airport home to Cargoland‘s growing ecosystem, brings together 150 companies, including 50 airlines and 60 logisticians, plus major eCommerce giants like Amazon, Alibaba Group, Temu, and SHEIN.
As Europe’s 5th largest cargo airport and Belgium’s #1 cargo hub continues its journey toward becoming one of Europe’s top three cargo hubs, and OPENEX 2025 is proud to strengthen LGG‘s connections with the global e-commerce community.

Global Cross-Border Ecommerce Market Outlook

Overview of current and forecasted market trends, demand fluctuations, tariffs & trade policies, capacity developments

E-commerce is now a structural engine of air cargo, not a cycle. Volumes climbed from about 0.8 million tonnes in 2018 to roughly 4.5 million tonnes in 2023, with another 18 percent in 2024, competing for lift in a ~24 million-tonne market. Policy shocks are redrawing maps. The May 2 removal of US de minimis cut China–US e-commerce by about 40 percent and pushed flows toward Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. EU tariffs near 15 percent and US swings up to triple-digit levels spurred front-loading and network redesign. Capacity is the binding constraint. 2024 saw about 139 widebody passenger deliveries and 29 freighters, roughly 60 percent below 2019, so tightness persists into 2025 despite higher freighter utilization and eastward hub partnerships.

Gateways and regulators are racing to keep pace. Europe is leaning into a “gateway first” approach, separating bulk and B2C, and letting marketplace expectations shape airport SLAs. Customs leaders outlined a single EU customs data platform, AI-assisted 100 percent scanning pilots, and closer work with major platforms to handle declaration surges that may approach 1.5 billion this year. On the ground and last mile, players are regionalizing airport use, pre-clearing cross-border flows, converting DDU to DDP, and expanding out-of-home options, yet parcel locker capacity still lags. The next 24–36 months will reward data-driven execution and access to lift, as e-commerce intensifies imbalances, one-way charter patterns, and the need to standardize, digitize, and collaborate across the lane.

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Navigating eCommerce Cross-Border Logistics : Challenges and Growth Opportunities

• How recent U.S. tariff adjustments are reshaping e-commerce logistics.
• Overcoming Last-Mile delivery bottlenecks in a rapidly evolving market.
• Solutions for peak season demand and fulfilment surges.
• Cross-Border vs. Local fulfilment models: comparing B2C and B2B2C approaches.
• eCommerce & Air Cargo: managing capacity and rapid growth.

The panel agreed that regulation is now steering the map as much as demand. US de minimis and tariff shifts pushed sellers from direct B2C into bulk import, B2B2C, and localized fulfillment, with many express flows to the US paused and Section 321 volumes down since May. In Europe, customs is moving toward one unified data system with AI-enabled controls and 100 percent scanning pilots, because declaration counts are exploding. Collaboration with major platforms is already lifting compliance and speed, while posts that do not share data risk ceding more ground to virtual-integrator partnership networks.

Capacity will be won through partnerships, not just aircraft. Airlines, handlers, GSAs, and last-mile players are tightening data integration, regionalizing gateways, and building pre-cleared cross-border flows. China and Southeast Asia remain the growth engines, with China’s global share expected to climb sharply in the next five to six years. Practical direction for shippers and platforms: avoid short-term loopholes, design for compliance, reduce declaration counts with B2B2C models, and align KPIs across the lane. The winners will combine access to lift with clean, shared data that makes gateways faster and last mile predictable.

Cross-border Shipping vs. Local Fulfilment (B2C vs. B2B2C)

Trade-offs, costs, speed, regulatory impacts, and how marketplaces are evolving in both models.

Hybrid wins. The panel framed cross-border vs local as a dynamic mix, not a binary choice: test markets with cross-border B2B2C, then flip to an ~80/20 in-country model once volume clears the “tipping point.” Regulation and cost are forcing the pace—volatile VAT/tariffs, Western Europe’s high labor/capex, and fast-moving Asia platforms opening dozens of warehouses—and “choice is king” at checkout: multiple service tiers, diversified carriers, and clear trade-offs on price/speed. Localization focuses on top SKUs with automation and near-end-to-end systems; the long tail stays cross-border. Carrier concentration risk is out; mixed networks protect brand perception and cost.

Sustainability is now assumed, so design it in: demand-forecast to justify local inventory, keep returns in-region, use greener/slower modes, and push out-of-home to cut fails and enable circular flows. Expect C2C to globalize, driving PUDO-first patterns and authenticated brand resale that turns returns into revenue loops. New entrants’ non-legacy tech and capital give them speed; incumbents must modernize or partner to match weekly footprint shifts. Bottom line: under rules that can “change twice in a day,” resilience comes from flexible hybrid playbooks, real visibility/traceability/accountability, and teams ready to pivot costs and SLAs by market.

The Rise of C2C – The Peer-to-Peer Economy Goes Global

How C2C platforms are reshaping logistics, payments, and brand strategies in a trust-driven market.

C2C has moved from niche to the fastest-growing e-commerce segment, pulled by price sensitivity, sustainability, and access to SKUs retail can’t offer. Success rides on dense out-of-home networks and a checkout that behaves like a shipping system: instant duty/tax calculation, real-time first/last-mile options in ~200ms, and labels that scale (dual/mono without over-labelling). Network design is pragmatic-PUDO for fast OPEX scale, lockers for long-run CAPEX efficiency-with a clear rule of thumb: 5–7 minutes’ walk drives both convenience and carbon savings. Returns and inventory benefit too: C2C keeps goods local, easing reverse flows in categories like fashion with structurally high return rates.

Cross-border is the next wave. To make 400+ intra-Europe lanes work, the stack needs accurate product data, compliant tax collection at checkout, and clear liability—plus AI/ML to infer classification from images/text and self-correct via feedback. Fragmented APIs and data schemas remain the bottleneck; standardizing processes and label space is essential as some carriers still resist shared labels. Policy shifts (tariffs, de minimis) are nudging demand toward C2C, where buyers still expect a B2C-grade experience: predictable speed, transparent costs, and flexible delivery (PUDO-to-PUDO, PUDO-to-door). The winner integrates the pieces-network density, compliant checkout, and AI-assisted classification-into a predictable, low-friction journey for both sellers and buyers.

Global eCommerce Compliance & Customs

Tax, IOSS, VAT, and the automation edge in B2B2C and C2C compliance.

The panel explored how fast-tightening regulations-EU ICS2, VAT/IOSS, UK post-Brexit rules, and ongoing de-minimis debates-are reshaping cross-border eCommerce. They contrasted B2B2C and C2C: the former benefits from structured processes and clearer liability (IOR, predictable returns flows), while the latter’s one-to-one nature introduces extra friction such as ID/KYC checks and uneven data quality. Across models, the message was consistent: clean product data (HS code, value, origin) is the difference between smooth clearance and holds, penalties, or rework-especially as marketplaces assume greater compliance exposure.

The discussion then centered on automation as the practical edge. APIs, rules engines, and pre-clearance workflows can standardize filings, cut errors, and surface exceptions early; AI helps with classification and risk scoring, while humans handle the outliers. With enforcement intensifying (more audits and fines), the panel emphasized KYC/KYB, audit trails, and data standardization as near-term priorities. Looking to 2026, the guidance was to pick a clear tax path (IOSS/OSS or deemed-supplier where applicable), design compliant returns from the outset, and build a single, high-quality data model that all partners can use-so speed and compliance scale together in both B2B2C and C2C.

Gen Z & Millennials: Changing Global eCommerce

From TikTok to trust-based C2C platforms—how younger buyers are reshaping the eCommerce landscape.

Gen Z and Millennials are reshaping e-commerce in different ways—and logistics has to serve both. Gen Z is social-first and speed-obsessed, expecting instant, app-based, low-touch shopping, delivery, and returns. Millennials are multichannel and reviews/data-driven, prioritizing reliability and cost with clear options and predictable ETAs. The playbook that works across both: lean hard on data/AI for demand sensing and allocation, hold local inventory where possible, and keep a second fulfillment path (merchant-fulfilled or 3PL) to ride viral spikes without stockouts. Delivery should be choice-rich and transparent—lockers/parcel points, real-time tracking, greener options—while returns must be easy but controlled to protect margins.

Operationally, the panel pushed “dual focus”: customer speed plus disciplined economics. Use historical baselines (e.g., Prime-Day-like peaks) to set forecasts with buffers; align service tiers to price (next-day and express get paid priority); and treat reverse logistics as a product—inspection, recirculation, refurbishment, and reporting—as a brand differentiator. Cross-border buyers care about when, not where, so visibility beats geography. On talent, Gen Z teams expect autonomy, purpose, and feedback; communication skills often need explicit training. Reverse mentoring surfaces Gen Z ideas while upskilling managers—helping brands and logistics providers adapt faster to social-commerce demand.

The Future of Cross-Border Logistics

Exploring innovations in automation, real-time tracking, and tech reshaping global delivery.

AI is turning cross-border from siloed steps into synchronized, end-to-end networks-inside companies and across partner ecosystems. The group stressed that clean product/data attributes, automated compliance (classification, denied parties, permits), and pre-filing now decide both speed and risk. Governments are also “getting smart,” cross-matching shipment, financial and law-enforcement data with AI and tightening oversight (e.g., richer waybill declarations, IOSS-era revenue gains). Expect horizontal, AI-assisted “virtual integrators” to rival traditional players by stitching best-of-breed providers together with real-time visibility (including in-flight), predictive exceptioning, and dynamic pricing that protects SLAs without eroding margin.

Sustainability shifts from reporting to routing: carbon-aware optimization, EV-only city zones, shared last-mile windows, and micro-DCs at the edge. Resilience means agility under persistent geopolitics and tariff churn-pre-file early, classify precisely, and re-route dynamically when rules or risks change. Returns and product life-cycle responsibility expand reverse-logistics opportunities, while fragmented standards keep pressure on airports, carriers, and platforms to be flexible. Bottom line: by 2030 the winners combine uncompromising data discipline with automation at scale, delivering all three-cost, speed, reliability-without trade-offs.