Finally, we reached the final stage of mastering the last mile. The quality of its organization is important for the online store, the buyer, and service companies. Read and share this article about last mile operations with other people that you know. Also, don’t forget to read our blog post about what is last mile delivery.
Mastering Last Mile Operations
Every customer wants to receive their order as soon as possible, preferably saving on delivery. These are common service requirements, but it can be extremely costly for an individual online store or courier company to satisfy them. The last mile operations in logistics are the most difficult and expensive. And if delivery costs are greater than the profit from the order, it simply does not pay off.
Last mile Delivery Challenges
Let’s imagine that you have 50 orders every day. 15 of them need to be delivered in London – this is not a problem for you. But what to do with the remaining 35 orders that need to be delivered to different addresses in other cities?
This is where the difficulties of the last mile operations begin:
- Differences in fuel consumption within the city and between cities
- Poorly laid out routes, stops and downtime
- Unsuccessful deliveries: the client was not at home or the buyer’s address was incorrect
- Return deliveries
- Often it is more convenient for the client to pick up the parcel himself – give him this opportunity.
Pickup Services
Self-pickup eliminates failed deliveries and reduces the number of returns. For example, due to the buyer’s incorrect address or the client’s absence from home. With self-pickup, you don’t spend anything at all on last mile delivery – the customer picks up the package himself. But we need a warehouse and someone who will deliver the package to the client at the right time.
Advantages of the solution:
- No last mile delivery costs
- Eliminates failed deliveries
- Reduces the number of returns
- Convenient option for the client
Expansion of the warehouse network
If you already have a warehouse, try to increase their number – in a particular city or throughout the country. This way you will reduce the time and cost of delivery to the final recipient. The last mile will simply be shorter, and the goods will be closer.
Almost every business strives to expand. But the challenge is to scale without sacrificing efficiency. In this case, warehouse logistics services act as a reliable support, supporting the last mile operational activities of a parallel scaling business at a high level.
From warehousing solutions to order processing, these services ensure that the entire merchandise routine runs like clockwork without any personal involvement. This approach will allow you to focus on business development, rather than spending resources on receiving, unloading, accounting, packaging and delivery of goods. Which in most cases takes up most of the entrepreneur’s time.
Advantages of the solution:
- Reduces delivery costs: in a region, city or country
- Increases delivery speed
- Pickup options
Courier Services
Courier services are the masters of the last mile operations in the city, these companies are also specialists in routing and delivery over long distances. If you have a lot of orders from other cities and countries, outsourcing last mile operations to such a company is an excellent solution. They usually have not only logistics experience, but also a wide network of warehouses.
Advantages of the solution:
- Lowers costs and increases the speed of delivery over long distances
- International delivery
- Own a network of warehouses
Onro
Development or purchase of last mile delivery software, creation of awesome applications for tracking orders, software for routing deliveries – all this helps a business in last mile operations.
For example, parcel tracking shows the customer the location of the product in real time. Delivery becomes transparent because the customer knows at what stage the product is at and when to pick it up.
Imagine your mobile applications with your brand, where customers can view the status of their desired order, and which will remind the customer that the package has arrived. There are quite a lot of such phenomenal and awesome solutions on the market. Contact Onro to make it turnkey for you.
Try Onro for Free
Get your free access to the Onro All-in-one Last Mile Delivery Software.
Advantages:
- Route optimization: faster delivery, less fuel consumption
- Reduces the number of failed deliveries
- Increases delivery accuracy in the best way possible
- Customer service: delivery status, notifications, and changes in delivery address.
Conclusion
All these awesome operations will help, either individually or in combination with each other, in last mile delivery operations. It all depends on the specific tasks and capabilities of your own online store or courier business. We also recommend you visit our blog post about Key Components of Successful Last Mile Operations.
