Innovation in Home Delivery logistics
Home delivery is often the differentiator for consumers, and this has fuelled innovation in logistics operations.
It doesn’t seem that long ago you’d have to wait for up to a week or more for goods ordered online. Delivery within 3 days was the best you could expect unless you were willing to pay a premium for faster delivery.
Customers now expect deliveries at their convenience, and this can be the next day or even the same day, even within the hour for certain purchases.
The demand for home delivery will continue whilst driver shortages, environmental impact, rising costs and new technology challenge retailers and delivery operations. Many are looking at new delivery options from electric delivery vans and cargo bikes to autonomous drones in order to satisfy consumer needs.
Innovating to Meet Consumer Expectations
Consumers expect fast and reliable deliveries.
Retailers that are willing to offer next day delivery and growth in online shopping due to the Covid pandemic has only helped to reinforce this expectation, but is this really sustainable either environmentally or economically?
A shortage of drivers and the need to reduce carbon emissions in urban environments means that we can expect further restrictions that will impact delivery fleet decisions.
Companies that are best placed to survive and thrive in this challenging set of circumstances will act now to utilise new innovations, investing in software to optimise deliveries now and in the future regardless of the mix of vehicles used and new challenges such as Clean Air Zones (CAZ).
Environmental Innovations
With growing consumer interest for all businesses to consider the environment and reduce their CO2 emissions, there is a requirement to make deliveries greener now.
A simple way to do this is to improve the delivery routes for existing fleet vehicles, increase their delivery density and reduce wasted journeys and wasted miles.
Selecting delivery scheduling software that will allow a consumer to select a delivery slot whilst considering existing orders and delivery commitments, available capacity and incentivising greener delivery times is the way forward.
Fuel Savings & Carbon Emissions Calculator
Add to that automated communications that prewarn the customer of an impending delivery and the chances of that delivery being successful the first time is greatly increased, reducing the need for repeat delivery attempts and extra delivery miles.
To Conclude
In Summary, challenging and disruptive environments will fuel innovation.
Companies can’t afford to wait and see what new options will emerge for home delivery, but need to act now to maximise their efficiency and still be prepared for whatever the future holds.
Contact Descartes to discover more…