Last-mile delivery is becoming more and more important, regardless of the type of goods you sell. With the rise of e-commerce, the competition has gotten fierce — not only among ecomm competitors, but for brick and mortar stores looking to stand their ground. But succeeding in this arena can be difficult, especially when the very nature of last-mile delivery is highly inefficient. Without proper planning and the use of current technology, it’s easy for businesses to succumb to this ever-changing world of delivery. Today, the delivery optimization experts at GetSwift are here to explain some of the biggest challenges of last-mile delivery. Keep reading to learn more.
Cost
Last-mile delivery is the final step in the distribution process that brings the desired goods to the customer. It’s part of a shift that’s been happening in the marketplace over the last decade, and now it’s become commonplace to be able to get everything from your groceries and fast food to your clothing and cannabis delivered right to your door.
Unfortunately, it’s very costly to be able to deliver goods from multiple sources directly to customers’ homes. The process is highly inefficient — many small, low-dollar deliveries require more time, more fuel, more people and more vehicles to get the job done. There’s no doubt that you’ll see a rise in your logistics costs when you offer your customers home delivery, but if done correctly, it can give you a clear advantage over your other competitors.
So, how do you keep your delivery costs from getting out of hand? The answer lies in technology. Using delivery management tools like those available from GetSwift will help you optimize your operation with automatic dispatching, route optimization, and delivery tracking. All of these tools can help you do more and deliver more, all while providing the best customer experience possible.
Efficiency
When it comes to efficiency, the goal of last-mile delivery is to be able to deliver goods to customers as quickly as possible. Amazon set the bar several years ago with their two-day delivery, and since then, the bar keeps getting raised. More and more people are finding ways to optimize their processes so they can stay competitive. In today’s market, whoever can deliver the right products the fastest will win in the delivery business.
If you’re finding today’s delivery expectations to be completely unachievable, it’s time to take a look at your current process and evaluate some of the areas that need improvement. Does your team spend way too much time tracking down delivery drivers? Is your growth limited by the number of deliveries you can make in a day? Are your customer reviews less than stellar?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you need to take action now.
Communication
Today’s consumers have come to expect much more from their shopping experience than just receiving an automatically-generated order confirmation email. They expect to receive frequent status updates about their order as well as real-time delivery notifications. Keeping each and every customer in the know can require a small army of people to do it — unless you rely on technology to help you.
GetSwift’s delivery management software can help you meet your customer’s expectations while also helping you to run your business more efficiently. Our easy-to-use app keeps you connected with your customers as well as with your drivers. With instant communication through SMS messaging, you can get the information to the people that need it in the fastest way possible.
Rapid Change
Commerce has changed significantly in the last decade. It has become almost impossible to capture and retain customers without tapping into home delivery. Unless you’re catering to the growing percentage of customers who look for businesses that can provide them with the fast delivery they require, you’re going to lose out. Businesses can no longer survive by continuing to do what they’ve always done.
If you own a business, change can be difficult — especially if you’re small and have limited resources. But choosing not to change is not an option. At GetSwift, we offer two different pricing options, so even the smallest businesses can take advantage of the tools they need to optimize and grow their business.
Contact GetSwift
If you’re struggling to compete when it comes to last-mile delivery, let the experts at GetSwift show you how the right delivery management tools can make all the difference in your success. Our software can help you work smarter by minimizing manual work, automating dispatching, and providing you with data reports that allow you to make more informed decisions about your business.
Trust the delivery experts at GetSwift. We’ve helped hundreds of companies in over 70 different industries conquer delivery and we can help you! Sign up today for a free, no-risk, thirty-day trial or visit our pricing page to learn about all of the features our software has to offer.
Walmart is taking aim at Amazon’s dominance of online retail, and a big part of its strategy is using more than a thousand of their physical stores essentially as delivery warehouses. By the end of 2020, Walmart plans to deliver online orders from 1,600 of its retail stores. In comparison, Amazon has only 110 warehouses across the country, making most shipments significantly more expensive.
This is big news for the last-mile industry because fast delivery and fast returns are critical when it comes to customer satisfaction — and expectations for speed will only get more intense. Amazon Prime has made huge leaps by offering free, one-day shipping, but if Walmart can win the battle for two-hour delivery, they will be able to meet a lot of demand.
Walmart’s success is also big news because for those competing with Amazon (and its willingness to spend $11 billion this quarter on shipping) in last-mile delivery, the future often looks dim. Not for Walmart, it appears. Its stock has even grown faster than Amazon’s since March 2019. Meanwhile, its online grocery business, now aided by a robot grocery picker, has already been a star for the company.
While not every company has Walmart’s enormous resources, there’s a lesson here: develop a strategy that fuses your retail and online presence, which has been the smart move for years now. Walmart is beginning to demonstrate that. Even though the Amazons of the world seem to be gobbling up market share, retail stores still have one advantage: physical proximity. If a store can take advantage of that, along with streamlined delivery and pickup software, that’s a way to grow in such a competitive space.
If you’re in charge of a small business, you have an endless list of things to manage. From scheduling and order fill to customer service and payroll, you need all the help you can get to keep things running smoothly. Even if you have a very small business with only a few employees, when it comes to managing deliveries and growing your business, there’s nothing more helpful than delivery management software. At GetSwift, we want to discuss some of the benefits of our software and why you should be using it — no matter how small your business. Keep reading to learn more.
Do More With Less
You didn’t put in years of blood, sweat, and tears to just settle. You’re in it to win it and want to see your business grow. But how can you build your business when you are limited by the number of people on your payroll and the number of hours in a day? The answer is that you have to find a way to do more with the resources you have. In other words, you have to do things faster and deliver orders quicker, all while earning the business of new customers.
Delivery management software from GetSwift can help you manage orders, schedule deliveries more efficiently, and communicate with your drivers through an easy-to-use app that works on just about any mobile phone. You can also set up automated dispatching to free up staff so they can focus on other core business functions. With our complete delivery solution, you’ll be able to make more deliveries in less time, allowing you to grow your business without having to invest in a larger fleet.
Get more information on all of the ways our software can make your life easier and more productive by visiting our software features page.
Boost Customer Satisfaction
The only way to keep your business going in the right direction is to ensure that your customers are completely satisfied. But in today’s world, making customers happy involves much more than just getting their order right or getting it to them on time. Today’s customers expect communication about their order from the moment they place it, until they receive the thank you and follow up note after it has been delivered. But how can you meet these high expectations without a small army of customer service representatives? That’s where your delivery management software can help.
With GetSwift, you’ll be able to utilize the power of technology to send automatic customer alerts, keeping them up to speed on real-time order status. It’s more than just sending an order confirmation email, it’s allowing your customers to be involved in every stage of delivery including tracking their order on a live map, receiving customized SMS alerts, and getting estimated delivery times that are continuously updated until the delivery is made.
Tools to Grow
Perhaps the most important reason why every small business needs delivery management software is that it provides you the necessary tools to grow. Every small business knows that scaling up is often a double-edged sword. You could do more if you only had the funds to do so. And likewise, the only way you’ll be able to get the funds is if you can grow the business.
When you invest in delivery management software, it’s like getting an extra team of people to help you just about every area of your business. It allows you to reduce the amount of manual work and increase automation which in turn boosts capacity. Plus, you’ll have access to valuable reports that help track daily metrics and KPIs. analyze performance right in your dashboard or export the data to any reporting platform you choose. Data is the key to performance improvement, and with GetSwift you’ll have it all.
Ready to Grow?
If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, try GetSwift’s delivery management software. With features that are customizable to fit the needs of your business, no other platform is better suited to help a growing small business.
Curious about cost? You might think that a complete software solution with all of these features might be cost-prohibitive, but that isn’t the case here. We’ve made it easy for companies with a limited budget to try our software by offering a free, no-risk, 30-day trial. Simply fill out a few questions and you can get started right away — no credit card required! If you decide to sign up, you’ll see that we offer two different pricing platforms, one that is tailored to smaller businesses, requiring just one flat, pay-per-delivery fee, and another that is suited for larger enterprises.
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