Transportation Review

Customer Focus in Last-Mile Delivery

Transportation Review | Friday, November 04, 2022

The delivery of a product to the last consumer is a crucial, if not the most significant, touchpoint in the customer journey.

Fremont, CA: The surge in e-commerce activity has highly influenced logistics. Volumes for postal and parcel service firms enhanced rapidly, and many have struggled to maintain. The switch to online shopping has also increased the demand for warehousing space, which is increasingly insufficient, and surging rent prices.

Nonetheless, let us remember about individuals. The delivery of a product to the final consumer is an important, if not the most crucial, touchpoint in the customer journey. Concerning delivery, we've seen a shift in consumer preferences called Faster and Greener. Let's do more to get a better understanding in a nutshell.

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FASTER! – Concurrently, the QUEEN consumer wants it all and fast! Super-fast delivery is meaningful for some things, but not all products are that urgent. Keep in mind when products could be delivered in 3-4 days. Those days have long passed. For numerous years, next-day delivery was the standard. Then there was a growth in the demand for same-day delivery. Companies like Amazon and other online shopping platforms have played a key role in this evolution. Even same-day shipping is no more sufficiently fast. The recent buzzword is "instant delivery." There are firms, especially in the supermarket delivery space, that pledge near-instant delivery of groceries.

GREENER! – However, the environmentally mindful buyer is called a Greener. A rising number of customers are becoming conscientious of their shopping habits and preferring slower/Greener delivery modes. Instead of having items presented as quickly as possible, they deliver them when required. Every order placed today does not have to be delivered tomorrow. The more time a delivery company has to deliver something, the more competent it may be.

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