January 3, 2023
Why is Last Mile Delivery Challenging?
Last-mile delivery is the last link in a long chain of logistics events. E-commerce businesses face an ever-increasing demand for faster or even same-day delivery solutions, but some last-mile problems and challenges can slow down the process. Ordering and collection processes can run smoothly, but an inefficient logistics approach during transit can negatively impact last-mile delivery costs and, in extreme cases, may cause businesses to lose valuable customers.
The hardships of last-mile deliveries
The issue with last-mile delivery is that it is the most complex, time-consuming, and expensive step in the shipping process. Yet it is the most critical.
There has been a continuous rise in e-commerce activity, substantially increasing the volume of goods transported. At the same time, customer expectations have evolved to include fast, if not free, delivery.
Challenges of last-mile delivery
With a proper final-mile strategy, businesses are set up to succeed in the long run. However, business owners may find themselves in a situation where they must deal with increased costs, late deliveries, and unsatisfied customers. Failed deliveries and unoptimized route planning could lead to lower profit margins and higher operating costs. Also, the quality of the delivery service has a significant impact on customer satisfaction. If clients have a negative last-mile delivery experience, they tend to be hesitant to purchase from the same company again, and they may feel more inclined to cancel an order they think will take too long.
Businesses are always trying to reduce costs without affecting the quality of their service. However, being that last-mile transportation is as crucial as it is, many factors contribute to the final delivery fees, such as fuel cost, failed deliveries, idling and downtime, and out-of-route miles.
Last-mile strategies
Business owners can implement some strategies to improve last-mile delivery:
Improve customer-warehouse proximity
The last distribution center or warehouse should ideally be nearer to most consumers; this saves money in the long run and helps minimize delivery times, cost, and fuel usage.
Invest in technology for delivery optimization
New technologies can enable process improvements with their capabilities to analyze real-time information, leading to better decision-making.
Optimize delivery vehicle routes
Route planning can cut down delivery times dramatically. Any updates on traffic that could affect timelines can be communicated to the delivery driver in real-time, thus making dynamic routing of the fleet possible.
Communicate with clients in real-time
Modern consumers demand flexible deliveries so they can schedule the reception of their orders; this benefits not only the consumer but the driver, too, as it ensures the client’s availability at delivery time.
Implement an effective real-time delivery tracking system
Real-time delivery tracking helps companies and consumers keep track of the package’s status until it reaches the final destination. In addition, tracking allows companies to share real-time updates on deliveries.
The biggest challenges that threaten logistics operations can be solved by implementing an advanced solution to streamline the processes and make them work efficiently. At Last Mile Logistics, we have worked hard for years to minimize these problems, such as missed schedules, issues in route optimization, lack of proof of delivery, or inability to support contactless payments. We have the expertise to increase our partner’s productivity.
