Industries such as e-commerce that rely on logistics for delivering goods and services need to think about the last mile: the section of the journey that places the package in the hands of the receiver. The fact of the matter is that this is just as important as every effort to turn an “add to cart” into a “complete checkout”.
A last-mile delivery strategy is the tactics that optimise the delivery process to provide customers with the best possible services. The core elements of this are speed, efficiency and convenience.
Customers who have spent their hard-earned money in your store expect the best customer service post-purchase. This means timely delivery through a reliable courier service that keeps the customer informed on the progress of their delivery, as well as friendly follow-ups about the experience or product.
What to Look For in A Logistics Partner
Because your client wants speed, efficiency and convenience, these are characteristics that you need to look for in a logistics partner. Furthermore, you can also look for the following elements:
- Share your brand values: A logistics partner is more than just the bakkie that gets your product to the client’s door – it is an extension of your business. The proficiency and professionalism of the courier company represent your business; therefore, enquire about their track record on delays, damages and communication.
- Automated plugins: Technology should improve lives, not make them more difficult. And the same holds true for business. It is worth it to investigate which possible partners have technology that integrates with your e-commerce store’s back end and allows you to automate a section of your business by giving you an order list automatically that you can then pack and have ready for pickup.
- Competitive advantage: Clients might be willing to pay higher premiums if that means your brand is working with a reputable logistics partner who can guarantee results.
- Network coverage: E-commerce might be a big influence in ensuring that a business reaches a wider target audience (one that isn’t limited to the area coverage).
- Pricing: Cost-efficiency is imperative. One simple way to offer convenient pricing is to find out if the courier service has a wide range of options available. This can include priority overnight shipping, door-to-door, kiosk-to-kiosk, or a new addition to the industry, locker-to-locker shipping.
Where Strategy Comes In
The last mile strategy applies to business owners as the company they partner with is their hands and feet, where entrepreneurs themselves won’t go. Ultimately, the aim is to take a customer-centric approach where you ask yourself what your customers want from a business once they have made the sale. Chances are, you can boil it down to one sentence: They want what they bought as soon as possible, and in one piece.
Communication
Add communication to your strategy. This looks like updating the client about the progress of their shipment. You can divide it into stages such as Payment Received, Order Packed, Handed Over to Delivery Partner, and Delivered. Where your delivery partner takes over, it is useful to be updated about where the package is. It allows the customer to feel important and that progress is being made, while keeping your business and its goods in their mind.
Many technological solutions can aid in keeping your customer informed: SMS, e-mail, WhatsApp messages, or updates on an online profile.
Coverage
E-commerce’s greatest perk is that it can reach anyone, anywhere. The only thing your customer needs is an Internet connection. However, people from rural areas (and not necessarily the Klein Karoo) might not be serviced by certain logistics companies. That’s exactly why convenience and a variety of options are so important.
Consumers can pick options that are most accessible, such as the nearest locker or kiosk, where door-to-door delivery is not an option.
Convenience
Customers demand service on their terms. From being able to order anywhere they are, even in bed, to checking out by using their preferred payment method, they want to choose.
The same holds true for their choice of delivery. Customers prefer to make their own choice with regard to price, speed and location. Where one might choose to have a product delivered overnight at their door because they suddenly need a present for a loved one, prefer to have it delivered to work because no one is at home during the day, or even have it delivered to a locker, because no one needs to know your business, offering customers such a vast range of options means that you really looked at every posible need.
Contactless
Another popular rise in customer satisfaction is to offer contactless services. This has already been a game-changer, as technology has advanced to offer a seamless shopping experience where customers never even see a human face. Lockers, for example, allow customers to take control of their interactions with fellow humans.
Industries such as e-commerce that rely on logistics for delivering goods and services need to think about the last mile: the section of the journey that places the package in Read More
