Add in shifting geopolitics, rising demand from emerging markets, and the need for stronger, more secure supply chains, and it’s clear that agility and foresight are more important than ever.

In our annual look ahead, we break down the top 10 global trade trends we’ll be watching, reacting to, and writing about in 2026.

Read on for our 10 2026 trends.

Curious about our past predictions? Check out what we thought 2017-2025 had in store.

1. Global trade hits record high in 2025 but faces slower growth in 2026

Global trade reached a record US$35 trillion in 2025, demonstrating strong resilience despite rising geopolitical tensions, higher costs, and increasing trade barriers. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), trade expanded by about 7% year over year, driven by higher volumes in both goods and services, with particularly strong contributions from East Asia, Africa, and South–South trade.

However, UNCTAD warns that momentum is slowing and expects weaker trade growth in 2026 as economic uncertainty, higher trade costs, and fragmentation weigh on global flows.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) echoes this outlook. Global merchandise trade grew faster than expected in early 2025 as firms front-loaded imports ahead of anticipated tariff increases and demand for AI-related products surged, especially in Asia and North America.

As a result, the WTO revised its 2025 merchandise trade growth forecast upward to 2.4%, while sharply lowering its 2026 forecast to just 0.5%, reflecting a cooling global economy and the full-year impact of higher tariffs.

Trade in commercial services remains more resilient but is also slowing. The WTO expects services export growth to ease from 6.8% in 2024 to 4.6% in 2025, and 4.4% in 2026, as weaker goods trade and slower output growth spill over into services.

Together, the UNCTAD and WTO assessments point to a global trade environment that is structurally strong but increasingly constrained, supported in the short term by technology investment and resilient demand, yet facing slower growth ahead as protectionism, economic cooling, and fragmentation reshape global trade dynamics.

2. Sustainable & carbon-sensitive trade

Sustainable policies (Electricity Demand & AI)

As electrification and digitalization accelerate, trade policies are increasingly aligning with climate and energy goals to support clean energy infrastructure and carbon-sensitive trade.

Global power demand is surging—driven in part by data centers and AI workloads—forcing energy systems to evolve and integrate more renewables.

Policies are beginning to incentivize renewable electricity generation, grid modernization, and clean technology exports to manage this growth sustainably while maintaining climate objectives.

Trade in renewable energy technologies (e.g., solar, wind, electrolyzers) is expanding rapidly, reshaping energy markets from fossil-fuel dominance toward clean trade flows that include grid equipment and storage systems. Export of these technologies supports carbon-sensitive value chains and opens new trading corridors as countries compete to lead in clean tech deployment. News Release Archive

At the policy level, many countries are implementing clean electricity investment tax credits, carbon pricing, and regulatory frameworks to encourage grid upgrades and clean power trade. For example, Canada’s Climate Competitiveness Strategy aims to boost clean energy and critical mineral supply chains globally, enhancing trade competitiveness while cutting emissions. Canada

Sustainable supply chain management

In 2026, sustainable supply chain management is becoming central to reducing climate impacts across international trade. Trade agreements and sustainability initiatives are increasingly tying environmental performance to supply chain practices, encouraging cleaner logistics, emissions tracking, and resilient value chains.

A recent OECD working paper emphasizes that trade policy can foster environmentally sustainable supply chains by integrating sustainability standards and climate objectives into trade agreements and corporate practices.

AI and advanced analytics are playing a transformative role by enabling companies to monitor emissions, optimize logistics for lower carbon output, and enhance transparency across multi-tier networks, helping firms make data-driven decisions that reduce carbon footprints while improving efficiency.

These developments reflect a shift from cost-only supply chain metrics toward carbon and environmental risk evaluation, with sustainability strategies embedded into procurement, production, and logistics planning.

Stronger collaboration among trading partners on carbon disclosure and low-emission practices would build resilience while aligning commercial incentives with net-zero goals.

3. Rise of emerging market demand

Emerging markets, particularly those in Southeast Asia and Africa, are becoming increasingly important demand centers in global trade. Countries in the ASEAN region, including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, are expanding their imports of manufactured goods, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, and electrical machinery, driven by robust industrial expansion and stronger trade partnerships.

Africa’s major economies like Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, South Africa, and Ghana are also growing their imports of food products, engineering goods, consumer goods, and medicines as rising populations and urbanization boost domestic consumption.

This shift is widening export opportunities for suppliers outside traditional Western markets and encouraging exporters to diversify into high‑growth developing regions where demand is rising faster than in advanced economies.

4. Competition & customer service shortening delivery times

In 2026, last‑mile delivery remains one of the most complex and important parts of the supply chain, shaped by evolving consumer expectations and ongoing market challenges. Logistics providers will need to address three key areas to stay competitive:

Big and bulky items: Demand for doorstep delivery of oversized goods like furniture and appliances is growing, but many carriers avoid these due to complexity. Specialized networks can turn this into a strategic advantage.

Reliability over speed: A shift in customer priorities shows that most shoppers (about 90%) prefer reliable delivery within 2–3 days rather than ultra‑fast service, highlighting the importance of consistent performance.

Transparent options: Providing clear estimated delivery dates at checkout and flexible delivery choices reduces cart abandonment and improves customer satisfaction.

Overall, successful last‑mile strategies in 2026 will combine specialized services, reliable performance, and delivery transparency to meet shifting consumer needs.

5. Scenario planning a strategic necessity for international businesses

In 2026, international businesses face geopolitical fragmentation, rapid technological change (especially AI), economic volatility, and rising sustainability and regulatory demands.

Scenario planning moves beyond traditional forecasting by exploring multiple plausible futures, helping companies build resilience and agility in global operations.

It uses “digital twins” to simulate different outcomes. Such a tool becomes critical in an unpredictable market. Any situation, even truly disastrous, can be simulated, tested, and solved virtually. So, the company gets a clear action plan before issues happen.

Key drivers include shifting trade alliances and tariffs, accelerating AI and automation with new cybersecurity and workforce implications, fluctuating interest and exchange rates, and increasingly complex ESG and data regulations. Supply chains remain vulnerable to natural disasters, conflicts, and strikes, highlighting the need for diversification and visibility.

Common scenarios that are run through scenario planning technology: Multipolar Patchwork (fragmented global blocs), Global Managed Trade (negotiated flows with policy shifts), and Localization/Self-Sufficiency (nearshoring to reduce geopolitical risk).

6. Shortening supply chains & localized manufacturing

Many companies are working to shorten cross-border supply chains and bring manufacturing closer to end consumers, whether on a national level or within regional trade blocks. For instance, many energy companies are acquiring manufacturing assets in, or shifting production to the Middle East to service regional customers, regardless of where the business is headquartered.

Additionally, there is a desire among multinational companies to develop close relationships and bring local partners into overseas markets where they might historically have sought to grow organically.

That is in part a recognition of a broader desire among customers to work with local counterparts and it often results in joint venture transactions that can bring local operational knowledge.

7. Services trade outpacing merchandise

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and other forecasting bodies indicate a steady, albeit slightly decelerated, growth for services trade in 2026. This contrasts with a significant slowdown projected for merchandise (goods) trade due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and increased tariffs.

Key global trends and factors include:

• Steady Growth: Services are expected to continue outpacing goods trade growth in 2026.
• Service exports a large proportion of Canadian trade growth: Between 2014 and 2024, Canadian service exports more than doubled to $232 B, now representing 23% of total exports and over 7% of GDP, accounting for 62% of the country’s real export growth while goods exports remain largely flat.
• Key Drivers: Growth is particularly strong in digital and business services. The demand for AI-related goods and services is also a significant driver.
• Headwinds: The overall global economic environment remains challenging, with trade disputes, high operating costs, and rising business insolvencies creating uncertainty.

8. Digital currencies transforming cross-border payments

Digital currencies issued or regulated by governments—such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins—are becoming a faster, cheaper way to move money across borders.

Today’s global trade payments still rely on slow, complex banking networks that add delays and fees.

CBDCs and regulated stablecoins offer a modern alternative, allowing funds to move almost instantly between trading partners while maintaining the stability of traditional currencies.

Unlike cryptocurrencies that fluctuate in value, stablecoins are backed 1:1 by real-world currencies, making them suitable for everyday trade, treasury, and settlement payments. Their digital design also enables automated payments tied to delivery or contract milestones.

For businesses, the benefits include quicker settlement, lower costs, and greater transparency. Studies show many companies are already achieving double-digit cost savings, and financial institutions expect digital currencies to handle a meaningful share of global payments by 2030.

As regulators in major economies advance real-world adoption, the biggest opportunities will be for platforms that support digital-currency payments seamlessly across international trade.

9. AI becomes the defining competitive advantage for manufacturing in 2026

Deloitte’s 2026 Manufacturing Industry Outlook highlights that artificial intelligence (AI) will be a key driver of competitiveness as manufacturers respond to lingering challenges from 2025—including rising costs, trade policy uncertainty, and slower growth.

According to the report, many manufacturers plan to increase investment in smart manufacturing technologies such as automation, advanced analytics, cloud platforms, and agentic AI, which can independently make decisions to improve productivity, quality, and capacity.

AI’s role is expanding beyond traditional automation to include functions like identifying alternative suppliers during disruptions, capturing retiring workers’ expertise, and improving customer service processes.

Advanced physical AI, such as autonomous robots and robotic systems, is also set to grow, with adoption expected to more than double within two years.

Manufacturers are increasingly using AI to strengthen supply chain resilience, employing AI-driven analytics to monitor risk, forecast disruptions, and rebalance networks in real time. The technology also supports a shift from reactive to predictive services, boosting equipment uptime and customer satisfaction.

Despite talent shortages, AI itself can help capture workforce knowledge and accelerate training. Deloitte concludes that companies that invest strategically in AI and smart manufacturing will be better positioned to navigate uncertainty and widen their competitive advantage in 2026.

10. Growing focus on cybersecurity in supply chains

Heading into 2026, cybersecurity is rising as a core priority in international trade supply chain management, driven by the increasing digitalization of global logistics, manufacturing, and trading systems.

As cross-border commerce relies on interconnected IT systems, cloud platforms, AI-driven operations, and third-party partners, vulnerabilities are expanding, making cybersecurity essential not only for IT teams but for strategic supply chain and trade risk management.

Key aspects shaping this trend:

• Expanded attack surface: Complex global supply chains now include multiple vendors, logistics systems, and digital interfaces. Cyber threats exploit weak links in this ecosystem, with third-party and multi-tier vendor vulnerabilities increasingly leveraged by attackers.
• Regulatory drivers: Standards and regulations like the EU’s NIS2 and broader risk disclosure requirements are pushing businesses involved in international trade to embed cybersecurity compliance and governance into their supply chain protocols.
• Operational risk and resilience: High-impact cyber incidents—such as ransomware attacks disrupting freight operations—underscore the operational risks to global trade flows and reinforce the need for robust cybersecurity measures across partners and transport networks.
• Integrated visibility and trust: In 2026, firms are moving toward end-to-end security visibility, continuous monitoring, and zero-trust frameworks that secure data and operations from origin to delivery across international borders.

In 2026 cybersecurity will no longer be a niche technical concern but a strategic imperative for global trade supply chains. Protecting digital infrastructure and partner networks is critical to ensuring uninterrupted trade operations, regulatory compliance, and confidence among trading partners.

The post Top 10 global trade trends we’ll be watching in 2026 appeared first on Trade Ready.

With e-commerce taking an increasingly bigger chunk out of retail sales, (currently about 10%), the last mile has grown in importance as a competitive advantage. Shippers and carriers alike are eagerly looking for ways to please customers while keeping costs down. In fact, according to some estimates, 30% of the total cost of all goods delivery is in last-mile.

Customers get even more demanding

Today’s customers are on the go and not as willing to sit around waiting for a delivery. Thanks to Amazon’s Prime subscription service, the accepted 5-7 day delivery time period has been reduced a new norm of 2 days. Even that is quickly being reduced further to same-day, and in some locations, one hour delivery.

According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper  survey and analysis, speed is important with 77% of survey respondents willing to pay for expedited shipping. Forty-one percent of survey respondents indicated they had ordered a product for same-day delivery. The importance of same-day delivery is evident in that 58% of those surveyed said the ability to search by items available for same-day delivery is important when selecting products online. In addition, 36% said same-day delivery is important when deciding to shop with a physical store. This was up from 31% in 2016.

Shippers and carriers alike are addressing the ever-shrinking last mile by offering options besides the traditional home including lockers, in-store pick-up and pick-up in third-party stores. In fact, UPS’ study found that 52% of online shoppers were interested in shipping to alternative locations.

“Ship-to-store” is a popular choice with 50% of online shoppers having used this option and noting that speed and convenience are important success factors.

Getting there faster

In some situations, the delivery person is being replaced by a robot or even a drone. For example, Starship Technologies is launching 1,000 delivery robots on U.S. and European university campuses for food delivery. A number of carriers, shippers, and others are testing drone deliveries. 7-Eleven has partnered with Flirtey for drone deliveries in the state of Nevada. In addition, Zipline has deployed drones in Africa to deliver medicines in remote locations. Also, Chinese e-commerce providers, Alibaba and JD.com are using drones to deliver in rural areas of China.

Not only is the delivery person being replaced by a robot or drone, but the traditional delivery companies such as DHL, FedEx and UPS, are facing increasing competition from firms such as Amazon and JD.com. These e-commerce providers are building out their own global logistics network and could potentially rival the integrators, DHL, FedEx and UPS.

The growing number of delivery options definitely indicates the importance of the customer. Indeed, the customer is in the driver’s seat and expects customization – not only in the products that are purchased but also in delivery decisions. Customers now expect to have options from the delivery time, to where the product is to be delivered to even tracking and managing the shipment while en route.

Tracking technology grows up

Gone are the days in which a customer was expected to phone a customer service representative to ask the status of an order.

With the advent of the internet, tracking technology made it easier for customers to know more about their shipment status. But still the technology lagged in timing. Today, tracking is available in real-time with little if any lag time. Some carriers such as DPD and even Amazon offer customers the ability to view actual delivery stops in real-time, online.

Apps from FedEx and UPS allow customers to not only track shipments but also offer a host of other options, including the ability to change delivery locations to leave with a neighbor or a different location while the package is out for delivery.

The customer is in the driver’s seat

The customer is in control of their shopping experience, from selection to purchase, all the way through final delivery or pick-up. Carriers and retailers will need to monitor customer behavior as well as their own costs in order to stay one step ahead of expectations and to remain competitive in a tight industry.

The post The “last mile” is getting faster as it gets more complex appeared first on Trade Ready.

These questions all briefly came to the forefront on December 29, when President Trump tweeted critical remarks about Amazon’s delivery deal with the United States Postal Service (USPS), claiming the USPS should charge Amazon much more than they currently do.

While a June 2017 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal made a similar point, arguing the USPS lost $1.46 per Amazon shipment it delivered, its author also holds a stake in FedEx and several others have disputed his calculations, claiming the USPS’ contract with Amazon is not causing the organization any financial issues.

The USPS, FedEx, UPS and last mile delivery: who wants it more?

However the numbers add up, there’s no doubt that we all want last mile delivery to get packages to our homes or offices – after all, who has time to go pick up every package they order at a warehouse or distribution center? So who wants to get those packages to our doors, and why?

The last mile of delivery, or the final stage of delivery from the local/regional warehouse to your doorstep, has traditionally been the most expensive stage of the delivery process. It can’t be done as efficiently as moving large quantities of packages from one warehouse to another and requires vehicles and manpower to make each delivery. The cost per delivery also accelerates dramatically in less densely populated areas, making it cost-prohibitive for some delivery companies.

Given that the USPS is already engaged in door-to-door delivery six days a week, they have generally been able to complete Amazon’s deliveries with lower costs. As a result, the USPS handles about 40% of Amazon’s last mile delivery. In comparison, UPS handles 20-25% of Amazon’s final deliveries, while FedEx handles an additional 15-20%.

The USPS is efficient enough that even UPS and FedEx rely on the USPS to make a portion of their last mile deliveries, estimated to be about 30% of FedEx’s total ground packages in 2014. UPS or FedEx ship their packages to the nearest distribution center to the final delivery address, and then pay the USPS to complete the final stage.

As e-commerce continues to grow, however, so does the demand for last mile delivery of vast numbers of packages, and volume should continue to grow well into the future.

And as the volume grows, the more cost-effective it becomes for other companies to become more involved in last mile delivery.

As a result, in 2017, both UPS and FedEx announced plans to introduce new lower pricing for shipping goods within a 50 mile radius, rather than adding a higher rate or surcharge, in an attempt to win over more of the growing last mile delivery market. According to DC Velocity, this announcement was accompanied by efforts from FedEx to open four new major hub centers and 19 automated distribution facilities in the preceding 12 months, and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment by UPS to improve automation in its local hubs to improve productivity by 25%.

Amazon trying to get a piece of the action

Never one to be shut out of a potential business opportunity, Amazon has recently also started experimenting with various delivery options of their own.

The Amazon Flex program pays regular people to serve as Amazon delivery personnel in their own vehicles in specific markets, as long as they can complete delivery within an allotted time window. Amazon is also testing a program called Seller Flex, where Amazon’s own vehicles will pick up goods from the warehouses of select third parties to make the deliveries to consumers. The new Amazon Key further allows Prime members to have delivery people open their doors and enter their homes to deliver packages inside, potentially serving as a piece of a larger plan to take over more last mile delivery.

With drone and self-driving vehicle technology continuing to progress as well, any company able to utilize it for quick, cost-effective last mile delivery – whether USPS, FedEx, UPS, Amazon or a new player – could also cause seismic changes in the future.

Proliferation of delivery options ultimately about making money

No matter who delivers a package to your door, the delivery will cost them money, so how do they make a profit? In the case of USPS, their contracts with Amazon and others guarantee them massive numbers of packages, and can then utilize their existing network to deliver them efficiently.

For FedEx and UPS, their hope is that the combination of reducing their own cost per delivery with increased automation and warehouses, and savings by handling deliveries themselves, rather than paying USPS to handle the last mile, will pay off. The competition between the two will also mean both will be eager to take hold of as much of the market as possible in hopes of preventing the other from dominating it. Depending on what kinds of deals they’re able to offer to Amazon or other major companies like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Staples, they may be able to encourage them to use their services rather than develop their own and further decrease competition.

For Amazon, not having to pay USPS or other carriers would be a consideration. Holding complete control over the delivery process would also let them have greater control over speed, and more ways to encourage customers to pay for Amazon Prime to have faster shipping and other options.

Whoever comes out on top will be in position to profit as e-commerce sales rise and more packages than ever require last mile delivery, making this a key issue to watch for years to come.

The post Who’s knocking at your door? Analyzing the future of last mile delivery appeared first on Trade Ready.

As the rate of technological development zooms ahead, and global value chains evolve, companies will need to be ready to open their eyes and minds to the possibilities of new processes and the skills that go with them.

Here, we are predicting the top 8 ways supply chain management will be different in 2018, and how you can keep up.

Check out Part 1 in this series to see the first 4 changes we have forecast in the year ahead.

Read on for 5-8.

5. Self-driving fleets will move from testing to implementation

Recently Tesla has been making headlines with the reveal of their Tesla Semi – the electric car company’s first foray into transport trucks. While there is no clear date for the roll out of the trucks, equipped with advanced autopilot, orders have already started pouring in from big names including Pepsi Co, UPS and Walmart.

Companies that invest in the electric fleets should see a cost savings of 20% over a standard diesel truck, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla won’t be the first to put a “robotruck” on the road. Daimler’s Freightliner division began testing out its autonomous tractor-trailer in Nevada back in 2015.

But with significant regulatory hurdles, will this new type of vehicle really take off in 2018? The momentum is certainly building, and with good reason. The benefits of autonomous trucks are plenty, and the need to address a rapidly growing demand and diminishing workforce are driving the adoption of the vehicles among the industry’s major players. According to Wired, the trucking industry is now short 50,000 drivers, and as current drivers retire that number could reach as high as 175,000 by 2024.

According to the New York Times, in 2017, companies and investors are on pace to invest $1 billion into self-driving and other trucking technologies – a tenfold increase over 3 years ago. That number is set to increase exponentially over the next few years. Companies of all sizes, including small start-ups are joining Google, Uber and Tesla in developing and testing their own autonomous trucks.

Silicon Valley start-up Embark have partnered with Frigidaire, and have been hauling their refrigerators 650 miles down the I-10 freeway using their robotrucks since October. For now, all automated trips are being supervised by a driver, but Max Fuller, executive chairman of trucking giant U.S. Xpress, has stated that he expects to see Level 4 autonomous vehicles (those that can fully operate without a driver present) to be hitting the roads within in three to four years.

6. Last mile delivery gets disrupted by sharing economy

Thanks to ecommerce pioneers such as Amazon, consumers now expect and demand ever greater control over the delivery of their purchases. Same day delivery has become a reality in major cities all over the world. In order to compete, retailers must now embed logistics into the customer experience from the very beginning.

Lessons learned from the hospitality, staffing, and mobility sectors provide successful examples of how to use sharing across all parts of the logistics value chain. There are infinite ways this can and will transfer over to other parts of the supply chain industry.

Oft-cited giant of the sharing economy, Uber, has taken their ride-sharing service a step further with “UberRUSH”, using GPS enabled apps to connect drivers to ecommerce customers in real time for fast, last-mile delivery. It integrates with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce.

In urban centres, urban discreet warehousing can enable companies to become more agile in delivering goods on demand.

Logistics providers will need to learn to adopt capacity sharing platforms to remain competitive – or risk losing out to niche companies providing this as a specialty.

The sharing economy also presents new options for businesses to improve efficiency and productivity within their own organization with on-demand staffing (think TaskRabbit, Fiverr and Upwork).

The sharing economy provides endless opportunities for companies of all sizes, and after a few years of proven successes, 2018 will be the year it really explodes into supply chain management.

7. ‘Amazon effect’ moves into industrial manufacturing, high tech and more

Several times a year Amazon makes new announcements about how they are further revolutionizing ecommerce and delivery. The bar continues to be effectively raised and Amazon has become a model to innovative companies who recognize that they must “evolve or die”.

Though it may seem a daunting prospect, omni-channel logistics companies will be looking to rise to the occasion and compete with Amazon head on.

And in order to do that they will have to get on board with some of the best tech tools being developed for business today.

Real-time data collection is now a reality with the adoption of business-ready IoT. Companies that are able to leverage the data they are collecting can better service their customers by not only meeting their needs but anticipating them, and providing convenience through omni-channel ordering from any device.

Now that customers are able to order from anywhere, anytime, the same expectations are raised for delivery. One technology allowing companies to better meet these raised expectations is 3D printing. We talked about 3D printers in our #TradeElite Twitter chat at the end of 2016, and since then the technology has continued to gain momentum in adoption, allowing companies to react quickly to changing customer demands by producing parts in house, as needed.

As mentioned in Part 1 of this article series, AI will also empower companies to become more agile, fast and cost-effective in this post-Amazon era of global logistics. With the adoption of these new technologies into supply chain processes anything is possible.

8. Climate change will increasingly disrupt supply chains

Debate it all you want, but the science is in on climate change. And this global reality is adding risk and complexity to international supply chains. The increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions will continue to disrupt transportation, availability of raw materials and labour.

In the last two decades associated costs from supply chain disruption due to extreme weather events has grown staggeringly, averaging tens of billions of dollars per year.

Particularly susceptible commodities include agriculture products and oil & gas, but all transportable goods will be at increased risk of weather-related supply chain disruptions in 2018. Businesses need to be prepared to weather these storms. Building more resilient supply chains with built in safeguards is no longer an option. Companies can do this by diversifying their supply chain with alternative suppliers to lessen the impact from one disrupted vendor, or suppliers concentrated in one region.

In contingency plans, supply chain managers should also look at different transportation options and determine how goods would travel if one method of transport was disrupted. Having backup routes and transport options available at the ready will allow companies to act fast in the case of disruption and reduce the financial and consumer impacts.

We would be remiss to talk about the effects of climate change without mentioning the efforts being made to reduce them. Joining big names such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and General Mills in incorporating sustainable practices in your supply chain can save you money on packaging, waste and logistics and reduce your company’s impact on the environment.

That will look good on your ledger and your global reputation in 2018.

The post 8 Ways Supply Chain Management will change in 2018 (Part 2/2) appeared first on Trade Ready.

For thousands of years, deliveries were made either on foot, or with the assistance of a horse or a ship. Then trains, automobiles, and planes came along and radically changed things. In the past 100 years, deliveries were able to be made faster, safer, and more efficiently than at any point in history.

However, deliveries are now going through yet another stage of development, and innovation is changing shipping again. Here is a look at some of the newest and most innovative delivery methods that companies are trying now.

1. Drones to fill the skies

Drones – unmanned flying machines that can be piloted by a person on the ground or guided using software – are among the most hyped new shipping technologies. A number of companies have already begun using drones to make deliveries.

In fact, in March 2017, Amazon made its first official drone delivery through its new “Prime Air” delivery service. The delivery consisted of a bottle of sunscreen and was sent to people at a conference in Palm Springs, California. The drone flew in, dropped off the package successfully and flew out without any issues. The online retail giant is a known pioneer and a trendsetter. So if Amazon starts heavily relying on drones for deliveries, there is a good chance that many others will soon follow suit.

Amazon is just one of many companies who are experimenting with drone delivery. Some other companies who are experimenting with drone deliveries include Domino’s Pizza, Mercedes, the Ukrainian Postal Service, and Workhorse.

The fact that so many famous brands are starting to use drones means that everything from pizzas to diapers to clothing could soon be flying through the air in high volumes.

It may soon become as commonplace to see drones flying through the air as it is to see cars driving on streets.

One of the key reasons why companies are starting to adopt drone technology is because they do not require drivers on the roads to move goods from point A to point B. This can help save companies a lot of money on delivery costs.

This is great news for companies, but potentially bad news for deliver drivers. However, despite the fact that many delivery driving jobs could soon vanish, many new job opportunities related to drone deliveries could soon arrive.

2. Driverless cars in beta

Driverless cars are another unmanned and automated approach to delivery that companies are beginning to experiment with. Domino’s again is involved with this exciting delivery innovation. On August 30^th, 2017, Domino’s started to experiment with self-driving pizza deliveries in its own hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Domino’s has partnered with Ford to use self-driving Ford Fusions to deliver pizzas to people around the city without drivers.

Because there are no drivers, no tips are required. To receive their pizza, customers have to walk up to the car and enter a four-digit code. After they enter the code, the back window roles down, and they can get their pizza out of a special heated container.

Domino’s is not the only company testing out driverless vehicles for delivery purposes. In fact, Ocado Technologies and Oxford University in England are working in collaboration to test small self-driving vans for grocery deliveries in the crowded streets of London. Oxford University is trying to create a car that will be emissions-free, in addition to delivering groceries autonomously.

3. One-hour delivery coming to your city, town or village

One-hour delivery, where possible, is extremely fast and can eliminate the days or weeks of shipping time that are often required for items purchased online.

Amazon is again leading the charge for one-hour delivery. The company now offers one-hour delivery in select major cities all over the U.S. and now into the UK and Canada for its Amazon Prime members.

Although this service is only available in a small number of cities, this amount will soon grow. This is especially true considering the fact that Amazon will be using drones more and more. Drones are not subject to traffic jams like cars are, so they have the potential to increase the speed at which items can be delivered. This is partially because drones can fly straight from point A to point B in many cases, barring buildings or other obstacles, since they do not need to follow winding roads.

So, essentially, drones could help bolster Amazon’s one-hour delivery and help to expand the service into suburban, or even rural areas.

Speedy one-hour shipping may become more common as other shippers and retailers try to keep pace with Amazon.

Revolutionizing the entire shipping industry

Between Canada and the United States, billions of packages are shipped every year. In today’s economy, customers want packages shipped faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. Delivery companies also want to reduce their delivery costs, while optimizing efficiency. The drive to create new delivery solutions is pushing companies to innovate at an impressive pace.

Delivery innovation is occurring so fast that five years from now the delivery landscape could look entirely different. Drones and self-driving cars could will automate vast portions of the delivery niche, while one-hour deliveries could make standard 5-7-day shipping periods look obsolete.

Amazon and Domino’s are two companies who are leading the charge for better delivery. This is not surprising considering that shipping is a key aspect of the business models for both of these businesses. In fact, Domino’s delivers more than 1.5 million pizzas every single day! The amount of packages that Amazon ships each day is very similar: roughly 1.6 million.

As these two major companies continue to innovate to reduce costs and improve shipping efficiency, the entire transport industry could change. The extent to which these new innovations will succeed and how much other companies follow suit is yet to be determined. But there is a high expectation that their innovations will be successful, and that many other companies will follow in their path.

Has your company changed the way you deliver goods? What will the next great shipping innovation be? Let us know in the comments below.

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