Last mile refers to a product's journey from a warehouse shelf to the customer's doorstep. Its practical understanding is that the last mile is the final step in the entire delivery chain process, where the package reaches the consumer. While this is a significant differentiator in competitive eCommerce businesses, sometimes it gets expensive for vendors to meet customer demands. In fact, in the entire shipping process, the last mile is the one that consumes a significant chunk of time and resources (financial & human).
Disrupt Logistics
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Most users have been in a situation where the packages are 'out for delivery,' but it seems like an eternity. This is why a significant issue with the last mile is inefficiency. But then it has a reason, too. The final step in a shipment process has plenty of stops having low drop sizes.

Consider a rural area where the distance between the two drop-off points is far away, with only a few packages to drop. On the other hand, metro cities will have severe traffic congestion between two stops, making up for the stop proximity. Around 68% of customers expect to have their package delivered to their doorstep.

This creates havoc amongst the logistics companies to deal with such unforeseen consequences. Here's where last-mile delivery can bring in the change and improve efficiency. Customers are looking for on-demand services and are willing to pay more for faster, one-day, or same-day deliveries. Giants like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS have successfully mastered the art of last-mile logistics. They have magnificently improved the delivery standards by stirring the then-existing delivery mechanisms, which required a lot of manual interventions. Such companies have leveraged last-mile logistics and delivery solutions by catering to customer's immediacy demands.

Scope of Logistics Software Solution

Logistics companies looking to match customer demands must take the route that gives back control to them. This can happen manually or by tailoring the logistics solutions using last-mile delivery software based on their requirements.

There are plenty of ready-to-use logistics software solutions that can disrupt logistics. Most eCommerce vendors roping in third-party logistics services for their last-mile delivery can do with developing software. In such a case, the logistics software solution should be able to do the following:
  • Seamless integration across multiple business processes covering all the participants
  • Providing a faster, scalable option.
  • It must deliver real-time statistics
  • Data science enabled accurate delivery time
There are plenty of startups looking for such niche supply chain solutions. This makes it difficult for delivery companies and large-scale retailers to integrate multiple tools into a single, scalable system that is consistent. Here comes the role of last-mile delivery solution development companies to enable high-level logistics software solutions. Such solutions are a niche as they are tailored from scratch and can scale up whenever required.


Optimizing Last-Mile Delivery to Yield Friction, Efficiency and Transparency

Consider how consumers, at the other end of the spectrum, demand faster delivery; on the other end, the demand for communication rises. This creates friction! Such friction results from constant update requirements and inquiries generated by customers that go on throughout the process.

Investing in last-mile delivery solutions can highly disrupt logistics functions at the backend. Especially with the dynamic user demands, the last-mile solution will keep the delivery personnel informed. Proper communication methods are implemented throughout the process, at various steps, allowing consumers to easily communicate with shippers.

Transparency also demonstrates the high level of consumer expectations. This is specific to the consumers wanting to know the exact time of the package's arrival. Moreover, consumers across the eCommerce or on-demand offerings platform are trying to gain insights into the delivery process.

Such demands will need visibility and transparency to the extent that customers can simply look at the in-app map to locate the package movement – in real-time. Such a requirement will require companies to integrate a real-time delivery tracking system just as it works in Uber, Lyft, etc.


Ways to implement Last-Mile Delivery Solutions to disrupt logistics

1. Equipping Drones, Robots and Self-Driving Cars

Though it may seem like a distant future, plenty of advancements are going on to raise the delivery standards by bringing in drones, robots, and self-driving cars for delivery. Amazon is already experimenting with drones, and Tesla's self-driving car can be used initially to offer solutions to last-mile delivery issues.


2. Enabling Smart Technology and Sensors

The sort of curiosity and wait that the consumers display, they need to have almost every detail of their package. Even the most detailed information, like the temperature of refrigerated goods in transit. Such information shall demand transporters and companies to maintain the integrity of all the items they supply.

The blend of IoT with Blockchain technology is creating a solid base for smart sensor implementation on a large scale. This ensures accuracy in delivering goods while also providing data security.


3. Creating a Difference with Urban Warehousing

The same-day delivery demands are at an all-time high. It pushes industry leaders like Amazon to pick densely populated areas to create warehouse facilities. This allows them to fulfill more orders by enabling faster deliveries. Fulfilling customers' needs in metros gets more accessible with the automatized delivery mechanism at a place that creates a real-time delivery alert with traffic updates.

Such a market scenario may well see many transportation companies. While Amazon led the charge on two-hour delivery, urban warehouse hubs are an opportunity many logistics providers or transportation companies should be considering.


Conclusion

A key element in determining the requirement of the last-mile delivery system is customer experience. Creating the logistics disruption will require the shipper to redefine its strategy and meet customer expectations at every touchpoint. The best solution is to equip the b2b last mile delivery logistics solution to cater to incessant requirements until the order is delivered.