Last-Mile Delivery: Solutions for Your Business
Last-mile delivery is the final touch or process of any supply chain management. It means delivering the final product to the end user. In other words, it involves making the product available for the customer to their doorstep, connecting the product with the consumer.
This function proves a vital component for an organisation as it is the only touchpoint between consumers and the business. As a result, if you transport goods to customers successfully, without any damages, and on time, a brand can build trust with customers.
Additionally, this function helps gain customer satisfaction, reduce transportation costs, increase scalability, and enhance order accuracy.
In the current market scenario, the rise in e-commerce platforms has pushed many innovations in the supply chain, especially in last-mile delivery. The increase in online retail platforms makes last-mile delivery more crucial as there is more scope for competition and customer service.
For businesses looking to enhance their last-mile delivery efficiency, Porter offers reliable and timely delivery services. With Porter’s commitment to quality, you can ensure that your products reach your customers safely and promptly. Choose Porter for a seamless last-mile delivery experience.
Follow the below comprehensive guide to what last-mile delivery is, its importance, and last-mile delivery challenges.
Understanding Last Mile Delivery in Logistics
Last-mile delivery is the process of picking up or carrying the customer order from the fulfilment centres or warehouses, selecting the best route for transportation, and delivering the order to the doorstep of the customer, business, or pinned location.
In this entire cycle, the drivers use GPS, mobile apps, etc., to optimise the best route. An ideal last-mile delivery is where the order packages are transferred on or before time without incurring any damages. There can be many challenges faced in this process, which are detailed later.
Example: You place an order for a laptop from a leading e-commerce platform.
The following steps will ensue next:
- Step 1: The e-commerce giant will accept and process the order further. They will notify the company outlet from where the laptop will be picked up.
- Step 2: The order is picked up from the outlet, packed, and made ready for delivery.
- Step 3: The order is then picked up from the warehouse and loaded onto the truck or any delivery vehicle.
- Step 4: The delivery partner will assess the best and quickest route for the delivery, based on various factors. These factors include the traffic, distance, delivery time, etc.
- Step 5: The driver will transport the laptop to the exact drop location and hand over the product to the customer.
- Step 6: There will be a certain form of delivery confirmation, such as OTP, mail, etc. In this way, the last-mile delivery is processed and executed.
The Importance of Last-Mile Delivery in the Logistics Industry
Last-mile delivery is significant for any logistics company. Here are the most common reasons why it is important.
Speeds Up Delivery
The increasing competitiveness in the retail industry has forced many businesses to prioritise last-mile delivery. Nowadays, customers want speedy deliveries. They need their orders to reach at lightning speed.
E-commerce giants like BlinkIt, Zepto, and Walmart compete not only on products but also on timely deliveries. Today, customers want value for both time and money, so last-mile delivery has become an essential part of the logistics industry.
Minimises Cost
A delivery partner or logistics company optimises the route while delivering goods from the warehouse to the customer’s doorsteps and helps achieve economies of scale.
Boosts Revenue
If a company has a streamlined and quick last-mile delivery function, it is more likely to generate more revenue at a greater pace than other businesses. Quick services attract more customers and thereby increase sales.
Ensures Customer Satisfaction
When goods are delivered faster, it creates brand loyalty among the customers. The faster and more accurately the goods are delivered, the higher the chances of customer re-ordering. Apart from ensuring loyalty, it ensures customer satisfaction when goods arrive on time.
Platforms like Porter Enterprise are ideal for businesses looking to leverage on-time and reliable goods transportation.
5 Common Challenges of Last-Mile Delivery
Last-mile delivery is not easy to execute every time. Companies face many challenges and problems while implementing this function. Following are some of the most common challenges faced in this area.
- Irresistible Traffic: The most common problem faced by last-mile deliveries (especially in metro cities) is traffic congestion. A complex traffic jam can directly impact the delivery time and lead to significant delays in delivering goods to the customer.
- Lack of Control or Visibility: Many companies do not offer the service of tracking your order live. As a result, both the buyer and seller cannot know the order’s status once it is out for delivery. However, lack of visibility is no longer a challenge for entities.
- Unfulfilled Orders: Another challenge for businesses is if they miss some deliveries, it leads to loss of customer goodwill and extra costs for logistics companies.
- Monetary Challenges: Maintaining pace with traffic congestion, road construction, and other challenges in metro cities can be complicated, leading to additional costs for companies.
- Safety of Goods: Although delivery partners ensure that there is minimal damage to the goods, it is difficult to eliminate risks of theft and damage completely.
Companies are continuously evolving their systems to counter these challenges using technology and other controls. Entities have started using real-time tracking services, which allow customers to get real-time updates about their orders. Businesses can also track the orders, ensuring that there are no missed deliveries.
Apart from these measures, companies also use delivery drones to lower the delivery time and predict the traffic congestion period. Retailers selling small items like packaged chips, juice bottles, etc., eliminate the traffic challenge by delivering products directly through drones.
Many organisations use autonomous vehicles, micro-fulfillment centres, and route optimisation technologies to reduce the impact of last-mile delivery challenges.
Last-Mile Delivery Solutions for Logistics Companies
The different solutions available for last-mile delivery are as follows:
Analysis of Key Metrics
Certain notable metrics a business should audit to track its last-mile delivery progress include delivery time per order, feedback scores, total miles travelled, on-time dispatch rates, success rates, etc.
Customer Feedback
Any company must communicate an order in two ways. Organisations should obtain customer feedback regularly to identify gaps in their delivery process and ways to improve customer experience.
Data Integration
Businesses should integrate all the applications related to last-mile delivery into a single place. In other words, customers should be able to view and track orders on mobile devices as well as computers. Tracking systems and other management systems like DMS, ERP, TMS, etc., should also be integrated.
Best Practices for Last-Mile Delivery
Companies that innovate and evolve their delivery models successfully overcome last-mile delivery challenges. There are many practices your business can undertake for a successful last-mile delivery, assisting in reducing costs and overall logistical efficiency. These are listed hereunder.
Technology and Automation in Last-Mile Delivery
Technology and automation are among the finest elements in addressing several last-mile delivery challenges. Companies use automated tools and techniques to assign order deliveries to the most suitable and nearest driver based on factors like traffic congestion, proximity, etc.
As a result, an entity can reduce the chances of any delays. Real-time tracking tools enable a business to analyse the average delivery time and missed deliveries and identify the best practices.
Nowadays, you can also find various tools to spot the most efficient delivery routes for high-demand areas. Additionally, you can get an idea about the ideal delivery time to transport goods quickly.
The list of technologies and automated systems never ends. Businesses also use depot & distribution automation, data analytics tools, artificial intelligence, etc., to excel in last-mile delivery.
Last-Mile Delivery and Sustainability
Last-mile delivery costs constitute the majority of your total logistics costs. A logistics company can take small steps in its deliveries to create a massive overall impact. It is critical to ensure sustainability while delivering goods efficiently. Carbon footprints and eco-friendliness are some of the main focus points for companies.
Forecasting techniques and route optimisation tools enable a company to assign order deliveries to the nearest driver-partner. This practice helps early order fulfilment/delivery and reduces carbon emissions linked with the delivery vehicles.
Many industries are promoting the use of electric vehicles for last-mile delivery, thereby reducing pollution. For short distances, many drivers use cycles as well. Routing and batching software are also commonly used to pick the most efficient and fastest delivery route to reduce the total miles.
Strategies for Efficient Last-Mile Delivery
Modern logistics scenario demands businesses to continuously improve and streamline their operations to strike a balance between the efficiency and effectiveness of last-mile delivery procedures.
Since this function holds a significant share of the entire supply chain, there is a greater need to deliver goods speedily and at minimal cost. Companies can fulfil this by executing well-structured SOPs, using modern technologies, providing customer service, and offering greater visibility to the customers.
Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery Options
Growing customer demands have motivated many retailers to implement instant deliveries. Same-day delivery means that the order placement and delivery occur on the same day.
For example, a customer orders five toothpaste tubes on Monday and the retailer delivers these goods on Monday itself. Similarly, next-day delivery involves placing an order today and getting it delivered tomorrow.
These company policies are amazing tools for customer satisfaction and user convenience. However, it puts an additional load on the companies as 100% execution of these practices is a tedious task.
It requires efficient inventory management, careful deployment of transportation methods, critical analysis of delivery routes, and establishing an inventory base near the major customer base.
Last-Mile Delivery Tracking and Visibility
As mentioned earlier, businesses should offer transparency to customers by providing order-tracking services. These tracking and visibility tools must be accurate and provide real-time updates to both customers and the company.
There are many benefits of these tools, such as greater control, better management of the delivery process, prediction of delivery time, generation of customer trustworthiness, etc.
Last-Mile Delivery in Urban Areas
With the increase in e-commerce retailers in urban areas and traffic congestion, businesses are facing many challenges. The evolving environmental laws pose some additional challenges to these retailers.
On the other hand, increasing business competition means companies are aiming to address customer inconvenience during order delivery by reducing fuel expenses, driver/worker management, etc.
But with greater challenges lies better opportunities. Logistics companies in urban areas have started using micro-fulfilment centres, drone delivery, autonomous vehicle technology, locker system pickup centres, AI tools, etc., to manage last-mile delivery problems.
Apart from these measures, businesses can use reliable partners like Porter Enterprise for transporting goods to customers quickly and safely.
Customer Communication and Experience in Last-Mile Delivery
One of the end goals of implementing last-mile delivery is to provide excellent customer service and convenience. From warehouse picking to doorstep delivery, companies should address customer queries regarding the order.
There is a high chance that a customer faces a delay in the order or incorrect order delivery. In such cases, businesses must follow up with the customer to understand and solve their grievances quickly.
One common way to improve the overall last-mile delivery experience for customers is to provide them with real-time updates (on order status) through texts, Whatsapp, email, etc. Even after successful deliveries, entities must obtain customer feedback regarding any negatives they faced on their order delivery.
Deliver with Confidence – Choose Porter
After coming to the end of the last-mile delivery guide, it is evident how hectic and crucial this function is. If you are experiencing gaps in your last-mile delivery procedures, it is time to collaborate with a logistics partner like Porter. Porter Enterprise is here to help you with quick, damage-free, and seamless deliveries. Our team of driver-partners is ready to cater to your goods transport needs at the most cost-effective rates. So what are you waiting for? Join our hands, let us load your goods, and deliver moments of happiness to your customers.