Corona Virus and the Increase in Home Deliveries

Since the corona virus hit the shores of the UK and with the fear of infection rising, more and more people are starting to take precautionary measures. People are electing to work or stay at home and there has resulted in an increase in the number of home deliveries for all types of goods, not just groceries or healthcare products.

ParcelHero, a UK based collection and delivery service that utilises the large named courier companies operating in the UK (UPS, TNT, DPD and Parcelforce), said that they are forecasting a doubling of home deliveries with the spread of corona virus, Covid19, in the UK.

Supermarkets have also been asked to increase available slots to help ensure that those people who are self-isolating receive home deliveries. Special procedures have also been put in place by some companies relating to the actual delivery once at the home of the infected person, such as leaving the goods in a specific place and not requiring a signature for proof of delivery.

Ocado, one of the UK’s online grocery delivery companies, has reported delivery slots filling up faster than usual and suggesting that people should book further in advance than they might have otherwise done. While Amazon have also report limited availability of next day delivery slots due to an increase in orders relating to the corona virus such as healthcare products like masks and hand sanitiser or just general grocery items such as toilet rolls.

Having routing and scheduling software for your delivery organisation that can optimise deliveries when there is a surge in demand will help retailers reduce the impact on the buying public at this challenging time. Knowing that you can offer additional delivery slots, but also that they can be fulfilled without affecting your ability to optimise routes and deliveries, is vitally important not to overstretch resources.

With the Descartes Mobile app for proof of delivery, alterations can be quickly made and deployed to drivers’ handheld devices instantly. Changes could include the removing of the need for a signature and replacing it with the requirement for a photograph of the receiving person or location. These changes to workflow can easily be made within the web-based configuration tool, along with the ability to set different criteria for different types of customers and different delivery scenarios

For more information about scheduling and routing systems that can optimised delivery routes or assist with Proof of Delivery please contact us.