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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSmall and mid-sized freight forwarders are being asked by shippers to offer real-time tracking, system integrations, and automated documentation, often while their own back offices still run on spreadsheets, email, and manual re-keying. The practical answer is to invest first in technology that solves a problem customers have already named, improve internal efficiency with the same tools, and keep personal service where customers still value it. The surveys behind that answer show what shippers and forwarders say they want. They do not prove that any single tool will win or keep a customer.
What shippers say they are asking for
In a November 2024 survey of shippers, conducted by Adelante SCM and published by Magaya in 2025, 90% of respondents said technological capabilities were extremely or very important when evaluating and selecting a third-party logistics provider or freight forwarder. The survey asked which capabilities mattered most, and three answers led the list:
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- Real-time shipment tracking. Shippers want to see where cargo is without phoning the forwarder for an update.
- Integration capabilities. Shippers want booking, status, and document data to move between their systems and the forwarder’s without double entry.
- Automated documentation and compliance. Shippers want paperwork produced and checked by the system rather than assembled by hand.
Adelante SCM CEO Adrian Gonzalez summarized the finding in the release: “Shippers are clear in their expectations: they want visibility, ease of use, and fast response times from their LSPs.”
Where forwarders actually stand
The same survey points to a gap between what shippers want and how forwarders operate. Only 23% of surveyed freight forwarders had digitized more than 75% of their overall business processes or transactions, and fewer than 40% used a freight-forwarding management system. One unnamed survey respondent described the problem from the forwarder side: “we have some logistics partners who have best-in-class technology, while others lag behind with limited visibility and delays in messaging. We’re actively working to rid ourselves of the latter.”
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A separate survey from Freightos, fielded in June 2024, reached a similar picture from a smaller base. Its 40 respondents ranged from large enterprises to small and mid-sized businesses. Ninety percent reported using one or more technology solutions, but only 42% said they were satisfied with them, and the report described many tools as siloed, with manual processes persisting alongside them. For an SME, the lesson is less about whether to buy software than about whether the software you already have connects to anything.
Why forwarders are investing anyway
Forwarders give several reasons for digitizing. In the Adelante SCM survey, freight forwarder respondents selected the following reasons:
| Reason to digitize | Share of forwarder respondents | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Improving productivity or efficiency | 84% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Improving customer satisfaction | 62% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Reducing operating costs | 59% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Improving end-to-end visibility | 51% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
The surveyed population was 71 qualified and verified freight forwarders and third-party logistics providers. Because the question was answered by 63 of them, these percentages are based on a small count, and the table should be read as a pattern rather than a benchmark.
The leading reason is internal. Efficiency is the first thing forwarders expect a system to deliver, and customer satisfaction comes second. That order matters for SMEs: a tool that cuts manual work in the back office pays for itself even before a customer notices it.
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Where AI fits into the plan
Artificial intelligence appears in the same survey as a set of planned uses rather than proven results. Asked which AI applications their firms had implemented or planned for the coming year, respondents selected:
| AI application | Share selecting it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Freight pricing and quoting | 39% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Documentation automation | 33% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Warehousing and inventory management | 31% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
| Freight invoicing and billing | 30% | Adelante SCM, 2024 survey |
These are selections of intended or existing use, not measurements of completed deployment or return on investment. The report also includes respondents with no current or planned AI use, so interest in AI should not be read as a universal starting point.
For an SME, documentation automation is the most direct overlap with the shipper priorities above. Pricing and quoting is attractive for a different reason, discussed next.
Digital quoting in a relationship business
Freightos’s April 2025 online freight report found that half of the top forwarders and four of the five largest ocean carriers in its survey offered instant online quoting. The report describes digital sales as part of the customer journey in an industry that still runs largely on relationships.
That pattern is useful for an SME as evidence of where larger firms are heading. It does not establish that a small forwarder must offer instant quoting to compete. A regional forwarder whose margin depends on negotiated, account-specific rates may gain more from an online request form that feeds its existing rate process than from a fully automated price engine.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The wider AI context
Forto’s 2025 Logistics Trend Compass, based on insights from more than 270 logistics, supply-chain, and purchasing professionals across Europe, found that 57% expected AI to significantly shape supply-chain management within the next five years. Only 12% reported wide-scale AI use today. Those figures describe a broad European professional audience, not freight forwarders alone, and they should not be treated as an adoption rate for SMEs.
A decision framework for SME forwarders
When comparing platforms, portals, or add-on tools, work through these six questions in order. Each one maps to a finding above.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minute- Which documented shipper problem does it solve? Match the tool to visibility, integration, documentation and compliance, or response speed. A tool that addresses none of these is hard to justify against the survey priorities.
- Does it connect to your existing workflows? Check whether it exchanges data with your carriers, your customers’ systems, and your internal accounting and operations tools. The Freightos finding on siloed tools suggests that a disconnected product adds to the problem.
- What is the full cost to run it? Include implementation time, data cleanup, training, integration fees, and ongoing support, and weigh them against the efficiency gains a firm can reasonably measure.
- Can your staff and customers use it? Ease of use appears alongside visibility and response times in the Gonzalez quote. A tool that staff avoid will not produce the productivity gain forwarders are seeking.
- Does self-service complement your relationships? Let customers check status and download documents themselves, but keep a named contact for exceptions, pricing discussions, and problem cargo.
- How will you measure results? Set baseline figures before rollout, such as time to confirm a booking, number of status inquiries, and documentation errors, and compare them afterward.
How much weight the evidence can bear
- The most directly relevant shipper and forwarder findings come from one Adelante SCM survey, published by Magaya in 2025. Its population was small, and the question-level bases were smaller still.
- The Freightos and Forto findings use different samples and definitions. Their percentages should not be merged into one trend line, and neither shows cause and effect between technology and customer retention or growth.
- No independent dataset focused only on SME forwarders was identified for this topic, so the figures above describe the wider freight market and should be applied to a small firm with judgment.
- The evidence supports the priorities in the framework. It does not show that any particular vendor’s product will produce the results a given firm needs.
Where a forwarder is deciding how far to go with digital service, the most defensible position is the one the evidence points to: build the tracking, integration, and documentation capabilities shippers ask for first, measure the effect on your own operations, and then decide whether a broader digital sales channel is worth the added work.
(Quoted figures are presented as reported by their publishers. Dates refer to when each survey was conducted or released.)
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