Freightos announced its entrance to the freight services market in 2013, when was presented as an online SAAS platform targeted at improving the booking process with freight forwarders and 3PLs. At that time Freightos CEO Dr Zvi Schreiber told WorldCargo News he became convinced the freight industry needed a true online booking platform when trying to arrange shipping as the CEO of an electronics company moving goods from China to Europe and the US. Left frustrated and unhappy, Schreiber and the founders of Freightos had a goal to make booking sea (and air) freight services as simple as booking a plane ticket online. 

Through products and services used by shipping lines, 3PLs and forwarders, Freightos already claims to be “the world’s online marketplace for international shipping, powering over $1 billion in global trade every year”. This weeks launch brings its product to shippers directly, targeting SMEs that, says Freightos, make up 97% of US importers. 

“Over the last four years, Freightos has brought some of the world’s largest logistics providers around online. Today we are thrilled to launch the world’s first online marketplace, which will make shipping goods as easy as booking a flight online. The future of global trade starts today,” said Schreiber. 

Freightos technology already automates millions of freight price quotes for forwarders including Nippon Express, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, and CEVA Logistics, as well as supply chain companies including Sysco Foods, Panasonic USA, and Marks & Spencer. The company is now making it available to a wider market. “The same routing and pricing technology now powers the Freightos Marketplace giving SME importers and retailers the unprecedented ability to compare, book, and manage freight rates in real-time. Initially the Freightos Marketplace is focused on US imports from China, by air and ocean,” the company stated.

The real challenge with any online booking portal for container shipping is whether it can integrate services that cover the whole chain, particularly the first and last miles, and manage equipment availability. This has proven go be a huge hurdle previously, and if Freightos can manage to overcome it so a shipper can get an almost instant online quote for a defined level of service for a door to door journey it could fundamentally change container shipping.