Optimizing last mile delivery management can be a game-changer for your company’s performance in today’s cutthroat business environment. As the last point of contact between your company and your clients, the last mile of the delivery process is frequently the most important. A competitive edge and increased customer satisfaction can be obtained through effective last mile delivery management.
What is Last Mile Delivery Management
A crucial component of the supply chain, last mile delivery management focuses on optimizing the last stage of product delivery to customers’ doorsteps. To guarantee on-time and satisfactory deliveries, it needs strategic planning, effective route optimization, real-time tracking, and effective communication. Businesses are discovering the value of streamlining their last mile delivery operations in order to increase customer happiness, foster brand loyalty, and boost overall operational efficiency as a result of the growth of e-commerce and rising customer expectations. Businesses may overcome the difficulties of last mile delivery and give their consumers a seamless, dependable, and enjoyable delivery experience by utilizing cutting-edge technologies and best practices.
The last mile delivery segment of the supply chain is by far the most expensive. Additionally, this is where your product, delivery distance, and service levels meet your customers at their door.
Your bottom line can be significantly improved by investing in the correct Last Mile Delivery system, and there are other more advantages as well. Businesses who deploy an effective Last Mile Delivery system report ROI from a variety of KPIs.
| Metrics | Improvement |
|---|---|
| Miles driven | 15-30% improvement |
| Vehicle and Driver requirements | 10-15% reduction in number of routes |
| Dispatcher hours reduction | 30% – 75% |
| Billing Cycle | 20%-40% reduction in Billing Cycle (2-3 weeks) |
| Paperwork (BOL, Manifest, POD) | 100% reduction in handling Paper |
| Customer Service calls | 30%- 70% reduction in Customer service calls |
| Delivery Accuracy | 30%-50% improvement in delivery accuracy (99% accuracy) |
| Loss Prevention and Shrinkage | 80% improvement from lost inventory |
| Dispatcher Efficiency | 50%-75% reduction in dispatcher time spent in communication |
| Delivery ETA | 100% improvement in reporting delivery ETA |
| Customer Order Entry | 85% improvement in Order capture time |
| Self Service Appointment Scheduling | 90% reduction in Call center |
Ways to Improve Last Mile Delivery Management
Businesses aiming to improve customer happiness, streamline processes, and gain a competitive edge need effective last mile delivery management. Here are some practical tactics and best practices to think about in order to maximize this crucial stage of the delivery process.
1. Self Service Customer Order Entry
Today’s transportation companies employ a range of non-standard inputs, including fax, emails, spreadsheets, PDFs, and phone conversations, which need customer service representatives to spend numerous hours precisely entering orders into the system. High friction and frustration are the end results. Major friction points for your clients can be eliminated by providing them with an intuitive and personalized order entry gateway. Customers appreciate using digital tools and finding it simple to enter their transportation orders into the system. Customers who use order portals claim that adoption increased right away, that customer care calls dropped by 90%, and that they were keen to quickly expand them across their customer base.
2. Self Service Delivery Scheduling
Customers can view their own schedule in relation to available slots thanks to automation of delivery appointment scheduling when products arrive at the DC/Hub or Point of Sale. Every phone call for scheduling deliveries, whether business-to-business or business-to-consumer, can last 15 minutes. This procedure can be automated, removing the need for call center operations and cutting down on inefficient and expensive activities. The automatic delivery scheduling approach has received positive feedback from 95% of customers.
3. Route Optimization
Route optimization is a crucial and common dispatch process. A strong Route Optimization solution significantly increases the dispatcher’s efficiency and is applicable to both B2B and B2C scenarios. Customers claim that route optimization increases efficiency and miles driven by 30% or more. It can be difficult to match truck capacity with client orders and manage time-sensitive deliveries. Customers claim that dispatcher time for planning and dispatching deliveries was reduced by 40%–75%.
Pickup and delivery trips combined can increase asset usage and backhaul. Asset return might increase by 15% to 35%.
4. Mileage Reduction
In order to increase mileage, decrease empty runs, and avoid retracing your steps, route optimization might connect points that are close to one another and in the right order. The bottom line and customer satisfaction improve when orders are assigned to the appropriate delivery routes.
5. Delivery Scanning
The wrong product may be loaded onto the vehicle at the warehouse and the wrong box may be delivered if scanning is done at the pickup or delivery. Either method can result in costly errors and redelivery reports to shippers. Delivery precision enhances customer service and reduces inventory loss brought on by transportation shrinkage.
6. Accurate ETA
Due to the widespread adoption of e-commerce delivery, customer expectations for ETA have skyrocketed. Today’s customers need a better delivery experience, including prompt ETAs and deliveries with clearer windows. Customers who receive proactive ETA updates from delivery management systems throughout the day have reported a reduction in call volume of up to 70%. A happier consumer is one who feels less uneasy.
7. Electronic Proof of Delivery
Paper documents with client delivery signatures have a history of being misplaced by drivers or dispatchers. The effort required to monitor, scan, and send these systems for billing takes up a lot of man hours and a lot of boxes. Paperwork, file retention, and the hassle of handling billing questions can all be done away with by using electronic POD.
8. Billing Cycle Reduction
Billing can be made simple with the help of ePODs, digital delivery process capture, and delivery recording. The effort involved in tallying a day’s worth of invoices can be reduced to a few visual checks and quickly resolving any exceptions.
9. Reduce Customer Service Call
When you digitize last-mile deliveries, your call center’s workload becomes incredibly light. There is a win-win situation with automated order entry and every aspect of providing value to your customers and shippers.
10. Unit Economics of Last Mile Delivery
Your entire ROI will be significantly impacted by improving unit economics for your last mile operations. A few hundred kilometers per day, 5 fewer trucks, 50 more orders, 80% fewer calls, a 2 week improvement in the billing cycle… All of this can help to ensure a successful business. Move forwardIn the business of today and tomorrow, expand more quickly.
11. Every Business is a Delivery Business
Today, delivery services are a part of every business. There are concrete and genuine benefits for all parties involved, whether you use all of these delivery solution nuggets or just a few, or perhaps outsource this to your transportation network. carrier, 3PL, courier, etc.
Conclusion:
Delivering outstanding last mile experiences is essential for business success in the current digital era. You can increase customer happiness, increase operational efficiency, gain a competitive edge, and generate higher returns on investment by making investments in efficient last mile delivery management. Don’t forget to organize your routes more efficiently, offer real-time tracking, work with dependable delivery partners, improve inventory management, and place a priority on effective customer communication. You can improve your company’s last-mile delivery capabilities and outperform your rivals by putting these tactics into practice.
About nuVizz:
nuVizz stands out as a potent solution for enhancing the ROI for Last Mile Delivery Management. nuVizz allows organizations to manage their last mile delivery operations and generate more profits with their cutting-edge portfolio of logistics tools and industry knowledge. Businesses can minimize trip distances, lower fuel consumption, and expedite delivery times by utilizing nuVizz’s sophisticated route optimization capabilities, which will ultimately result in cost savings and improved productivity.
