Over the past four years, many once-celebrated logistics technology companies have quietly moved from “market darlings” to “market doubts.” They raised enormous amounts of capital. They promised to disrupt a traditional industry. They were valued in the billions.
Today, valuations are down. Public stocks trade far below SPAC-era expectations. Private shares change hands at discounts. Investors are starting to realize that their return on capital may take far longer than originally promised — if it comes at all.
Critics are quick to say:
“The tech wasn’t good enough.”
“The business model doesn’t work.”
“Logistics is too complex to digitize.”
I disagree.
I don’t believe the core business models are fundamentally broken. And I don’t believe it’s over for these companies.
But I do believe there is a bigger, more structural mistake at play.
It’s Not the Business Model. It’s Strategic Positioning and Marketing
Let’s address the common criticism first.
Companies like Flexport, Freightos, sennder, project44, and Xeneta all received substantial funding and, in most cases, have not produced consistent net profits.
That fact alone does not invalidate the model.
Amazon didn’t make a profit for years. Salesforce operated at a loss while building dominance. In SaaS and platform economics, profitability often follows scale, not the other way around.
That said, I do believe there were strategic mistakes, not in the core business logic, but in positioning and marketing.
Several companies created confusion around what they actually were.
Some started as digital freight forwarders, promising to revolutionize the model with technology. Then, quietly, they began operating as traditional freight forwarders themselves. That shift blurred their identity.
Others overpromised functionality before their platforms were fully mature. They priced their solutions at a premium level while still building operational depth. The narrative was often bigger than the execution.
But the deeper issue was not product maturity. It was a mindset.
Many of these companies approached the logistics industry with the assumption that they understood it better than the people who had been running it for decades.
We all remember the famous phrases:
“Logistics is still run on paper and pencil.”
“Freight forwarding is stuck in Excel.”
In reality, that was an oversimplification and, in many cases, simply wrong. And that was perceived as arrogance.
I’ve experienced this personally.
I visited many of these companies’ stands at trade fairs. I listened to their presentations. I saw impressive dashboards and bold claims.
But almost none of them asked:
“What do you think?”
“How does this fit into your workflow?”
“What are we missing?”
There was a lot of talking. Very little listening. And in logistics, an industry built on relationships, nuance, and operational reality, that imbalance matters.
This strategic arrogance led to situations where:
- Solutions were designed for investor decks rather than for operators.
- Sales narratives attacked existing players instead of integrating with them.
- Technology was positioned as a replacement rather than an enhancement.
And when the freight cycle turned downward, customers did what logistics professionals always do in uncertain times: They reverted to trust.
Overemphasised Marketing. Sales Lagging Behind
Another critical imbalance was the disproportionate focus on marketing at the expense of sales execution.
These companies built powerful brands. They produced strong thought leadership. They invested in PR. They dominated conference stages.
But in logistics, especially enterprise logistics, marketing does not close deals. Sales do. And not just sales activity — but consultative, patient, relationship-driven sales.
Many logistics tech companies scaled marketing visibility faster than they scaled real commercial depth. They generated awareness before building a fully mature sales engine capable of handling complex buying processes.
And logistics technology buying processes are complex:
- Multiple stakeholders
- Procurement departments
- Operational validation
- IT integration review
- Risk assessment
- Pilot periods
- Contract negotiations
Here, you don’t close these deals with a bold tagline. You close them with operational credibility.
In many cases, marketing promised transformation, while sales teams struggled to translate that promise into operational value that logistics managers could confidently commit to.
The narrative was scaling faster than the commercial engine behind it.
In logistics technology, marketing can open the door. But only disciplined, industry-native sales close it. And when sales maturity lags behind marketing ambition, the gap eventually becomes visible in revenue, retention, and ultimately valuation.
Is this over for these companies? What needs to be done for them to succeed?
So, is this over for these companies? My opinion – No.
The demand is still there. Digital booking will grow. Rate benchmarking will grow. Real-time visibility will grow. Data-driven procurement will grow. Shippers are not going backwards the digital path. And digital providers also learn a thing or two from their mistakes.
But if these companies want to succeed, they need to adjust — not the vision, but the execution.
First, they need to look at marketing budgets with discipline. Not emotionally. Not driven by visibility vanity metrics. A clear breakdown is required: how much is spent on awareness, on demand generation, and on actual sales enablement. If brand building consumes most resources while the sales engine remains underdeveloped, growth will always be unstable. Awareness should support revenue, not substitute it.
Second, sales and marketing must operate as a single commercial function, not as two parallel narratives. That means agreeing on a precise ICP, prioritising segments instead of trying to sell to everyone, aligning messaging, and sharing revenue responsibility. In logistics, credibility collapses quickly when positioning feels inflated.
Third, sales teams need to be strengthened properly. This industry is relationship-driven and culturally sensitive. Trust is built through language, nuance, and operational understanding. Relying heavily on outsourced sales teams or teams that lack industry depth or native-level communication is rarely a long-term solution. Invest in trained, market-native salespeople who understand freight economics and procurement behaviour. That builds durable pipelines, not short-term activity metrics.
Fourth, simplify product strategy. Define the true core product. Identify the functionality that solves a daily operational pain point and make that exceptionally strong. Then build structured upsell layers around it. It’s easier to upsell when you open the doors.
Finally, think strategically about portfolio logic. What is the anchor product? What drives recurring revenue? What creates dependency? What is an optional upsell? Clarity here influences everything — marketing, sales messaging, pricing, and expansion.
It’s important not to forget that the market does not reject digitalisation. It rejects overpromising and under-structuring. The winners will not be those who promised to “kill freight forwarding.” They will be those who respect how the industry works, integrate into it intelligently, and scale through trust. Logistics does not evolve through revolution. It evolves through credibility, functionality, and commercial discipline.
About the Author:
Thomas Ananjevas is a seasoned supply chain professional with 15 years of experience in purchasing and selling logistics services and building supply chains from the ground up. He founded a consulting, training, and marketing services company dedicated to the logistics industry.
