Why Should Last-Mile Leaders Pay Attention to Customer Engagement?
Conventional delivery systems are built around tracking orders, tasks and routes, but rarely focus on the customer experience at the other end.
Today, we’re seeing a mindset shift among leading distributors. In business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors alike, companies are treating customers as active participants in the delivery process, not just passive recipients.
Aside from the obvious benefit of improving customer experience, this approach can reduce overall operational costs. Empowered customers are more likely to attend their delivery and less likely to clog up your call centre.
What is customer engagement in last-mile delivery?
Customer engagement refers to how logistics operations communicate with and empower customers across the delivery journey. It’s about giving clear, timely updates, the ability to make decisions, and a way to provide customer feedback on their own terms.
This is distinct from customer experience (CX), which encompasses the overall impression customers form of your brand. Engagement is one of the important ways to improve CX, since more informed, more connected customers tend to be more satisfied ones.
Operational effects of poor customer engagement
Businesses normally have a dispatch system to track deliveries internally. But the visibility doesn’t extend to customers.
In the absence of customer engagement, the operational and reputational costs quickly add up:
- Customers phone in chasing delivery times, disrupting dispatchers and drivers.
- Poor communication leads to missed deliveries and rescheduling costs.
- Satisfaction is damaged as customers don’t get the visibility they expect.
UK logistics leaders are seeing that a robust engagement strategy reduces overheads and increases delivery precision.
Customer engagement technology for last-mile delivery
Customer engagement doesn’t have to be complicated. By adopting all or some of these technologies, businesses can provide the transparent experience that customers are used to.
- Real-time delivery tracking notifications: Keep customers informed from warehouse to doorstep with order status updates and driver location.
- Customer portals: Offer a browser-based link where customers can view delivery details. No need for app downloads or long hold times.
- Appointment control: Let customers choose, confirm or rearrange their own delivery slots online to minimise missed deliveries and avoid unnecessary phone calls.
- Multi-way communication: Enable real-time chat so customers can give access notes or share quick updates like “I’ll be back in 5 minutes.”
- Click-and-collect coordination: Let customers notify the store of their arrival and location to speed up handovers.
- On-the-spot feedback: Send a short survey post-delivery via SMS or email, while the experience is still fresh in their minds.
Building a mature customer engagement strategy
The first step of customer engagement is proactive communication. Updates via SMS or email ensure that customers are up to speed on what’s happening.
A more effective approach is to allow customers to self-service all the information they need. A web-based customer portal lets customers view their delivery details whenever it’s convenient for them.
The next level of engagement is to give recipients an active role in their delivery. Interactive chat options let customers share important details with dispatchers and drivers. Instant feedback allows your team to rectify issues as soon as they arise.
By taking these steps, retailers and distributors can benefit from:
- A reduction in missed deliveries
- Increased customer retention and satisfaction
- Fewer inbound calls
- Less disruption to dispatchers and drivers
- More accurate and actionable customer feedback
With Descartes, businesses can easily integrate customer engagement into their existing routing, mobile and telematics tool kit. Get in touch to find out more.
