What is Last Mile Delivery?

The rapid development of online shopping and e-commerce has completely revolutionized the home delivery and logistics industry. With the transformation of consumer habits and demands, online stores and marketplaces also need to make significant changes to keep pace with the growing demand. Customers expect a fast and seamless shopping experience which is fast, accurate and cheap delivery. One of the most important elements of this process is the last mile delivery, during which the customer receives the ordered product.

What is Last Mile Delivery?

The last mile delivery, as the name suggests, involves the final phase of the delivery process. Proper application, it offers a solution for delivery from various logistics centers, warehouses, shops, all the way to the customer’s door, which is becoming more and more popular all over the world with the spread of online stores and web stores.

Its main purpose is to facilitate and speed up the delivery processes during which the customer receives the ordered goods or package directly. That is why speed and efficiency are key. Whether it’s bulk ordering, a small package, or crowded city or hidden country roads, a well-designed last mile delivery system can save almost any business a lot of time and money in the long run.

Furthermore, Last Mile Delivery is a series of distribution networks where a distributor or a retailer can choose not to use third party delivery services. In this case, the distributor will send packages to consumers’ homes directly.

Last-mile delivery plays an extremely important role in the relationship between businesses and customers.

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How does Last Mile Delivery work?

The delivery flow of the Last Mile Delivery System starts when the customer orders goods and is received by the existing business unit. Furthermore, the goods will be processed and will package the goods to be shipped. After being packaged, the goods will be handed over to the courier or delivery service to be sent directly to the public.

In addition, the flow of the delivery of goods by a third party or the delivery service will be tracked in the system owned by the existing business unit. This tracking can also be seen by the public as consumers who want more information about the distribution of the logistics goods sent.

If the goods have arrived, the delivery service will inform the server that the goods have arrived and consumers can respond to the goods that have arrived at their destination to complete the flow of the goods delivery process to the business unit.

With this kind of flow, transparency and efficiency can be experienced by all parties, the business unit, the delivery service, and the customers themselves.

Importance of Last Mile Delivery

Although online ordering existed 10-20 years ago, this process of purchasing was not widespread at all. This is due to the low level of trust in online orders, and the delivery time took weeks, and in some cases even months. However, with the advent of large online store chains, the entire market has transformed and today an increasing share of merchandise sales is taking place online.

Along with the growth of the market, the needs of customers have also increased significantly. Today, fast and cheap delivery is almost a basic requirement when ordering from a e-commerce site or web store

By rethinking the final stage of the delivery process, however, not only can a company become more efficient, but their customer satisfaction can also increase significantly.

Over the past few years, the entire e-commerce market has changed significantly, with the habits of both stores and customers changing. Online orders and the accompanying home delivery services are carving out a larger slice of the consumer market every year.

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Mile delivery:

Warehousing – The amount of space, storage characteristics, geographic location and total number of locations can come into play and affect cost.

Fulfillment – Number of individual packages, packaging needs. Order completion time, order quantity.

Delivery – It is inversely proportional to the time, the size of the order, the scope of delivery. (Package, shipping method)

Technology – The analysis of customer needs based on Big Data or based on Block chain. To adapt to the increasing demand for automation and to establish information homogeneity.

In addition, operating equipment and labour costs also contribute to the cost.

Last Mile Delivery challenges

There are a number of factors that can affect a potential customer when making an online purchase, based on which you decide to place an actual order. The main such consideration is the cost of home delivery, which is often one of the possible causes of basket abandonment.

There is a growing demand from customers for cheap or even free delivery. This is why the shipping fee can even be decisive when finalizing a purchase. Although there is a growing demand for delivery as soon as possible, and even on the day of the order, market trends show that the majority of customers are reluctant to pay more for this service.

The problem therefore stems from this contradiction, but a good solution on the part of online stores could be to reduce shipping costs. Namely, a drastic transformation of the money spent on transport is absolutely necessary in e-commerce, as the winners of the changes in the market will be the webshops that will be able to best meet the changing and rapidly growing customer needs in the best and most cost-effective way.

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The problem related to the delivery, which affects both the stores and their customers, is the difficulties arising from the delivery of the packages and the issue of the follow-up. A common problem is that the package needs to be re-sent due to incorrect addresses, traffic jams, or shipping to hard-to-reach places. Also a regular dilemma is the failure of delivery due to the fact that the buyer is not present at the address provided at the time the courier arrives. These problems with a lot of extra work and repeating deliveries impose even more extra costs on companies.

However, solving these problems is not an impossible task even for the smallest businesses. By making delivery processes transparent, accurate and clear communication, and taking advantage of the technology, any business can achieve significant quality improvement in the field of delivery. By choosing the right last mile delivery provider, the entire process can be outsourced, saving significant time, energy and money. Due to the accurate and fast delivery, traceability and various convenience functions, the application of a complete last mile delivery solution can have a positive effect on customer satisfaction and thus on the customer’s mood.

The future of thriving businesses

Developing a cost-effective and high-quality last mile delivery service can be a turning point in the life of a business. To this end, it is important to develop a strategy for appropriate transport policies.

The presence of the Last Mile Delivery System is a necessary combination of technological sophistication and logistics activities, in order to answer the increasing logistics needs and overall efficiency.

For locally based companies, the cheapest and most practical solution is to outsource the entire last mile to a partner company. By fully taking over the tasks of the supply chain, a significant cost reduction can be achieved. Huge expenditures on home delivery, such as fleet maintenance and upkeep, courier fees, planning time and energy, can all be significantly reduced by using last mile delivery services.

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One of the most important advantages of the service influencing customer satisfaction is the customizability of the delivery. There is a growing consumer demand for customers to get their package there and when they want it. The last mile delivery company can help with this, organizing and coordinating the delivery process according to the customer’s needs, thus ensuring that the package reaches its destination quickly and the customers have a smooth, free shopping experience. With various package tracking and communication solutions, the customer can always be aware of exactly where their package is going and when it is expected to arrive.

Choosing last mile delivery solutions also saves time, money and energy. By modernizing delivery processes, a lot of unnecessary costs can be eliminated, and all phases of delivery can be made more efficient. In addition, services related to last-mile transport can take a significant administrative burden off a business due to their simple interface and the capabilities provided by automation.

With guaranteed, customizable, customer-centric and fast home delivery, not only the value of your business, but also the trust and loyalty of your customers can be significantly increased. Last mile delivery has recently become one of the most important pillars of the logistics chain. By choosing the right service and implementing the last mile solutions correctly, almost any business can make great strides on the road to success.

Conclusion

With consumer expectations increasing along with increasing online shopping, efficient, timely and accurate delivery is more important than ever. Last Mile Delivery will become a mainstay needed to meet the need for distribution and delivery of logistics goods quickly and efficiently along with the development of existing digital technology.