We all are well aware of the fact that people happen to be buying more goods online than ever before. They want goods to be delivered straight to their home and on time on the same day within hours. With more and more efficient as well as dependable B2B options, delivery happens to be surging and is more so kind of becoming an integral part of our lives. However, not many of us get into the details of how it actually happens.
It is well to be noted that one of the most prominent stages of B2C happens to be last-mile delivery, which is, as a matter of fact, a crucial final leg when it comes to the supply chain. It is that stage when the gift you ordered gets transported from the distribution center to your place of delivery.
There is a usual thought that might as well come to one’s mind that last-mile delivery is a very easy and minute part of the supply chain that goes on to bring the products to the customers, but it will be indeed a startling fact to know that in 2021 alone, there were almost 159 bn last-mile deliveries, which went on to account for 30-35% of the present network expenses. Due to this, it has become a growing issue for the retailers, delivery drivers, and supply chain leaders, as well as customers.
Pre-Delivery Analysis
In case of ordering something, especially by way of a massive e-commerce platform, customers have the option to choose from fast, regular, and even carbon-footprint-reducing choices. Customers can also go on to access numerous elements right before placing the order and hence must plan and assess delivery systems as well as options.
There are a couple of emerging elements that go on to influence a delivery selection of a customer—adoption when it comes to new tech and systems and the learning curve in the case of adapting to the new advancements. Also, factors such as demographics, service quality expectations, sustainability, fees and prices, and above all, trust—all happen to play a major role.
As far as the retailer’s and a service provider’s perspective is concerned, strategic as well as operational factors happen to influence the behavior. In a way, strategically, service stakeholders tend to safeguard and, at the same time, also build resilience so as to meet customer-desired service traits through providing elements such as alternative delivery modes as well as AI tech – thereby meeting customer requests when it comes to sustainability and also delivery tracking. In a way, operationally, they go on to rely on new tech and also routing planning so as to coordinate logistics services such as blockchain, therefore creating better performance, dependability, and, of course, transparency.
Due to the emergence of crowd shipping, drivers have gone on to become significant as well as independent supply chain actors when it comes to the delivery process. Crowd shipping happens to be a delivery method that happens to rely on the present travelers to transport packages in place of using delivery companies, which are traditional. Drivers make a choice about what deliveries need to be taken up based on delivery traits, performance, and also personal motivations.
When it comes to delivery companies, so as to attract drivers as well as entice customers to respective courier options rather than crowd shipping, they should rather avoid elevating the shipping fees and at the same time also encourage drivers to go ahead and accept tasks by way of non-monetary incentives such as ratings as well as other characteristics that go on to make the drivers more efficient. Moreover, it is also critical that they go ahead and coordinate all the delivery stakeholders so as to make sure that the system goes on to align with the needs of the customers. Once the planning and strategizing of the stakeholders is complete in the pre-delivery stage, the next stage happens to be delivery—the time when the goods are en route.
Delivery
The last-mile delivery stage is in connection to the activities right from dispatch to the arrival, which happen to include concerns of the stakeholder and how they go on to have an effect on the delivery. Customers go on to engage in certain activities so as to lessen the issues pertaining to delivery, right from self-collecting packages to even practicing perceived autonomy to crowd shipping.
It is worth noting that on-time delivery is indeed pivotal when it comes to last-mile delivery, especially in case the customer demands alterations. Due to this, the retailers as well as service providers have to manage and also control certain specific actions so as to better the accuracy of time, dependability, and also cost-efficiency. Some of these activities happen to include the drop-off sequence, predictors related to real-time, consolidation of deliveries, and also operational along with time transparency. Hence, all this enhances execution and also accuracy and, at the same time, also decreases failed deliveries with rising time forecasts.
One of the critical parts of delivery is the driver behavior, which is often overlooked by retailers and providers. This includes taking note of route changes, time spent in the residential area, and also unloading time. These very specific behaviors happen to be more prevalent when it comes to urban areas and go on to have an effect on post-delivery. Optimally located parcel lockers as well as dynamic booking for parking can be some of the many solutions.
Post-Delivery
This is the stage when the final customer happens to receive the package at the destination that is chosen. It is also the time when the stakeholders stress service quality, its failures, comfort, and performance.
There are customer issues that happen to arise when the package is received through the various delivery modes. This molds their perception in regards to delivery quality, accuracy performance, interaction with the driver, and also quality. All these factors happen to impact the satisfaction and also repurchase behaviors. For example, it is the poor performance that goes on to cause dissatisfaction and also complaints in regards to the service and platform. On the other hand, it is the good performance that always leads to reviews that are positive, thereby leading to the repurchasing of products and brands.
When it comes to retailers and service providers, supply chain restrictions as well as consequences happen to have the most effect when it comes to the post-delivery performance, execution, and also capacity. It comes as a surprise when delivery drivers post-delivery perspectives go on to emerge as an important figure in the whole process. Elements such as on-time fulfillment, delivery cost, and execution, as well as decisions related to pre-delivery, happen to incentivize their performance rate.
Future When It Comes To The Last Mile
Last-mile delivery has indeed become a major success factor when it comes to online retailing. Customers expectations happen to greatly impact the intent of purchases, whereas the delivery mode choices depend upon the perceived effort, personal values, and, of course, the acceptance of technology. Retailers and also service providers have to balance between reducing failed deliveries, looking into the driver behavior, and also managing tactics concerning improving predictions of time, routes, and options that are diversified. Also, the execution when it comes to strategic pre-delivery decisions will go on to mean better deliveries for drivers. At the end of the day, it is the customers who can have enhanced and customized delivery options, especially in case of challenges.
