According to the study «Online shopping in Spain. Edition 2021”, prepared by the ONTSI (National Observatory of Technology and Society), the aspects that users value most when they buy online are free shipping (74.4%) and delivery time (61.1%).
As the volume and expectations of customers shopping online continue to increase, the delivery experience has become a competitive differential for companies focused on developing their e-commerce, as this factor can generate a considerable increase in sales.
In order to meet expectations and streamline the same-day delivery process, it is necessary to update the last-mile logistics strategy.
What is same day delivery?
Same day delivery is based on delivering online orders within 24 hours of purchase.
This service commits to the last mile service, since the delivery experience is a determining factor for the user to buy again in the same store.
The challenges of same-day delivery
There are numerous challenges businesses face when offering a same-day delivery service. These are the main four:
#1high costs
The cost of last mile delivery can represent more than 50% of the total cost of the shipment (associated with transportation expenses: fuel and salary of carriers).
Some merchants tend to charge these costs to the final customer to minimize their impact, but this is ineffective, since the competitive environment evolves more and more towards “free shipping”. In turn, the shortage of drivers puts even more pressure on delivery providers, demanding salary increases and more benefits to maintain their fleet.
Fortunately, there are now solutions such as Vonzu, which allow these limited and costly resources to be managed efficiently and profitably , by assigning delivery drivers to the most optimal routes according to their availability.
#2Lack of order forecasting
By definition, forecasts are never exact, and the lack or forecast errors mean a loss of profitability for the business, either due to lack or excess of stock.
However, there are techniques and technological solutions that allow forecasts to be optimized to better manage demand and limit the margin of error, reducing operating costs and incidents.
To have this control and have the necessary information to make forecasts, a fast and automatic integration between order management systems (ERP), warehouses (WMS) and transportation (TMS) is required, such as the one offered by Vonzu. Using Business Intelligence (BI), our SaaS improves decision making by monitoring business indicators in the software data.
#3Control of drivers
The effectiveness of same-day deliveries largely depends on optimal driver management. There are many unforeseen events that can cause delays in delivery, and in areas such as restoration, a difference of minutes can be enough to erode the customer's shopping experience.
In order to correct any incident, it is essential to know in real time where they are, what expeditions they have completed and how many they have left to carry out.
The only way to face this challenge is to have a technology that allows drivers to be geolocated and visualize the evolution of their expeditions. With the Vonzu Live Map, you can control the location and route of the drivers in real time, as well as the status of your orders and possible incidents, anticipating decision-making to deliver your orders on time.
#4Optimization of delivery routes
Last-mile logistics demand optimizing delivery routes to guarantee same-day delivery. It is about finding the best route to transport the package from the distribution point to the final recipient.
This represents a double benefit: the company speeds up the service and makes its business more profitable, making more deliveries in less time; and the customer gets an improved delivery experience , thanks to the real-time display of the status of their order.
Given the growing volume of urban distribution of goods, without the automation of this process, it is practically impossible to manage a shipment on the same day , since finding the best route depends on multiple variables and possible unforeseen events.
To do this, Vonzu offers a powerful route optimization tool that calculates the optimal route to be taken by each delivery person with the registered shipments, in order to dispatch the largest number of deliveries in the shortest possible time.
conclusion
The development of electronic commerce and online sales is a continuously evolving process that challenges the logistics sector, but also offers a great opportunity.
The progressive increase in demand and the demand for immediacy and a free shipping service in deliveries by the final consumer, makes it difficult for many companies to define a profitable business model. However, evolving the logistics of your company becomes a simple task thanks to the complete and functional Vonzu SaaS.
