Everybody loves to have their order delivered on the same or the next day. This same-day or next-day delivery expectations of the customers have made it necessary for online retailers to upgrade their last-mile delivery operations. Last mile delivery software solutions are responsible for performing the processes involved in the transportation of goods from a warehouse to a customer’s place.
The main objective of last leg delivery is to deliver customers’ orders within the committed time without increasing the cost. This crucial part of the logistics and supply chain industry plays a significant role in achieving 100% customer satisfaction, which is the ultimate goal of any company. Traditional last mile delivery processes might not work efficiently in this eCommerce-driven era. You might face challenges like limited visibility, delayed deliveries, manual route planning, increased delivery cost, and more.
So, if you are facing these challenges with your existing last-mile operations and want to replace it with a last mile delivery software then this article is for you.
Here, we have listed six essential features that should be in a last mile delivery software solution.
1. Automatic allocation
Allocating your orders manually to the self-owned vehicles or 3PLs might eat up a lot of time. However, a final mile delivery solution can make you overcome this problem. Such solutions come up with an intelligent allocation system that segregates the orders based on their volume, size, weight, delivery location, and other factors to map them with the right vehicle.
Auto-allocation and auto dispatch can save a considerable amount of time and allow the professionals to focus on other tasks to improve business efficiency. The main purpose of auto-dispatch is to find the most suitable vehicle for the order delivery to minimize the time and cost. So, when you choose a last mile delivery system, make sure it has this feature.
2. Real-time tracking
Tracking the consignments in real-time can help you maintain complete transparency during the entire delivery process. Both the merchant and the customer can have real updates on the status of the order and drivers’ location. Real-time tracking helps in building your brand reputation and earning the trust of your customers.
They can contact the delivery agents at any time in case of any discrepancy or problem with the order delivery. Moreover, they can also reschedule deliveries merely by calling the driver or sending them a message. This would help drivers to save fuel costs that would otherwise increase if the driver attempts for multiple deliveries.
3. Key metrics
Merchants can improve their delivery process by auditing and analysing various details provided by the last mile delivery system. They can look into service times, success rates, customer feedback, distance travelled and more to optimize their overall delivery process. This can make them take better decisions and create fruitful strategies. Hence, the last leg delivery software should be able to throw light on these important aspects.
4. Customer feedback
Collecting customer feedback on delivery helps in improving business processes. The feedback also helps in offering customer-centric services, which can lead to customer loyalty and trust in the brand. It would also help companies to improve their delivery services or add additional delivery options for the customers.
5. Route planning and optimization
An efficient last mile delivery solution should have route planning and optimization features to automatically display the most efficient routes for the order deliveries. Now efficient doesn’t mean the shortest route; it means choosing a route that would ensure on-time deliveries without increasing the shipping cost. Route optimization takes factors like delivery time, vehicle capacity, traffic, location, and other factors into consideration to provide the routes that can ensure timely deliveries.
6. Carrier performance analytics
This important feature of a final mile delivery solution will help e-commerce companies and other online retailers to measure the performance of their third-party logistics. Based on the feedback provided by customers, delivery time, and other factors, the feature should automatically generate a report containing the 3PLs with the best performance. The companies can choose their third-party logistics according to that.
To get the last-mile delivery solution with all these and other advanced features, you can reach out to Shipsy, one of the leading logistics and transportation service providers. By providing your specific requirements, you can ask Shipsy to develop a customized solution for you.
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