What is Last Mile Delivery?

Last Mile Delivery and trends to look out for

According to studies, the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 helped increase the number of eCommerce users across the globe. The increasing trend is set to continue during this year as well and with it, the average density of deliveries has also increased.

The growing number of e-commerce users amid the coronavirus outbreak also drives the supply chain industry to find ways to meet their customer’s challenging needs. The order fulfilment process starts from when the client made an order and ends with the final step (Last–mile) when the product has arrived safely at their given address.

If the Last-mile delivery is not up to the customer’s expectations then they are unlikely to shop with you again. And may lead to a loss of customer satisfaction and potentially impair customer relationships. Thus, resulting in fewer growth opportunities for your business.

What is Last–Mile delivery?

Last mile delivery refers to the final stage in the fulfilment process. It is the most integral part of the delivery process. This is where a business or 3PL transports online orders from a distribution facility to the delivery location set by the customer.

The goal of the last mile is to deliver all the goods to the customers as quickly as possible. The role of delivery is one of the most important in the ecommerce customer journey, meaning that last mile deliveries are especially significant as they have the greatest impact to ensure the customer’s satisfaction.

A successful last-mile approach is determined by how fast are the delivery, accuracy, efficiency, transparency, and most importantly, a positive customer response.

According to studies, the following are last mile delivery trends for 2021

Use of artificial intelligence and Machine learning

Covid-19 and lockdown have changed the usual shopping ways and added more pressure on businesses and logistic company’s efficiency of last-mile deliveries for customers. More and more supply chain companies have opted for AI technology to improve their last mile operations. AI can help with real-time tracking of inventory and orders, route optimization, and visibility to keep the customers informed about the exact location of their items. AI-enabled geocoding also locate addresses on a map that helps delivery companies to reach the customer destinations faster, which will lead to a higher delivery success rate.

Contactless Delivery

Due to safety concerns caused by the pandemic, there has been a surge to find ways for contactless deliveries. Most consumers preferred this over conventional delivery. Some businesses are looking to explore contactless options for deliveries such as drones, robots, self-driving vehicles and even zip lines. However, it will still take time for research and approvals before these can be put to use.

Faster turn-around time delivery

Same day delivery is being a trend nowadays. People want their parcels as soon as possible and some customers don’t mind spending more to get it quickly and are willing to pay extra for guaranteed delivery.

Insourcing

The sudden influx in last mile deliveries during the past years drives the companies to use their resources for last mile deliveries. This encourages logistics provides to use their own vehicles to deliver parcels to local consumers. This trend helps the companies to lower their delivery cost and optimize their resources at the same time.

As e-commerce continues to evolve, so does the ways of delivering the items to the consumers. The above trends will surely be innovations that will greatly affect the ways of last mile deliveries.

AFL logistics’ is equipped with automated multi-storey warehouse and distribution centre. Furthermore, via our system portal, you can process your EDI and track your orders in real-time anywhere.