Interview with BJ Streefland, Via Europe

Ahead of the World Mail & Express Americas (WMX Americas) Conference in Miami, we caught up with BJ Streefland, CEO of ViaEurope. BJ will be speaking at WMX Americas 2019 and offers his thoughts on the conference and the future of the industry.

P&P – Tell us a little bit about yourself and your company.

BJ – I’m the CEO of ViaEurope, a company I founded in 2015 taking on the challenge of providing e-tailers with a true logistics solution for global e-commerce.

We observed that international markets, from Asia to the Americas, were experiencing tremendous growth in e-commerce but struggling with complex EU customs legislation. ViaEurope has developed a tech-based process that allows any partner in the world to provide a seamless e-commerce experience within the European Union to their customers.

P&P – What will you be speaking about at WMX Americas this year?

BJ – E-commerce into Europe, with the focus on the upcoming Brexit and our approach to e-logistics; Technology and data.

P&P – What do you hope our delegates will take away from your presentation?

BJ – More information about the latest EU regulations specifically for e-commerce and what technology can do for the compliance and fast processing of their parcels.

P&P – What do you feel are the biggest challenges facing your business today?

BJ – Compliance and the ability to handle thousands of parcels in short time-frame.

P&P – Who are you looking forward to meeting at this year’s conference?

BJ – For us it is the start of developing a new market. We are very well positioned in the China market and are now looking forward to use our learnings on the US market but at the same time understand the US market, as no market is the same. What remains the same, is the regulations and procedures in the EU union.

P&P – How can we advance the post and parcel industry?

BJ – Using more data and technology. This is difficult for many legacy companies, they are trying to adapt their current systems to the present market situation. This has already been shown to be a huge obstacle. ViaEurope however started with a blank sheet, taking technology (data) as the starting point without having the legacy burden that many companies have.

P&P – What is the most interesting trend for 2019?

BJ – I think we will see more and more disruptive technology companies entering the market and start to take a piece of the pie of the total market.

P&P – What impacts do you foresee from President Trump’s American Madepolicy and the recent US China trade wars?

BJ – As an active player in the Chinese market we have already seen several of our clients who were active in both the US and European market, stop shipping to the US due to the trade wars. I expect this will continue especially when Trump will decides to walk away from the UPU agreement.

BJ will be speaking at the World Mail & Express Americas Conference 2019. WMX Americas is taking place at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay (10 – 12 February 2019). Visit www.wmxamericas.com for more information.