SMALL BUSINESSES, BIG SUPPLY CHAINS
responding to demand for pre-storm delivery of emergency supplies, can present the same challenge. By outsourcing delivery, SMBs can serve a broader area within their community without the costs of owning and maintaining a delivery eet. “This allows businesses to save on overhead and reinvest resources into growth while meeting customer expectations,” says Dennis Moon, chief operating of cer at Roadie, a UPS company and crowdsourced delivery platform. This approach also allows SMBs to keep essential staff focused on mission- critical roles such as assisting in-store customers or attending to a myriad of other business-speci c tasks as opposed to handling deliveries. A crowdsourced delivery platform like the one Roadie offers helps SMBs stand out by offering same-day delivery. Customers appreciate the convenience and it helps the SMB garner repeat business. A service like Roadie also helps SMBs improve their returns experience by streamlining the process through a network of drivers equipped to handle items of all sizes, including furniture and appliances. Customers don’t need to box items and travel to a store, Moon says. Drivers handle returns directly, ensuring convenience for customers and ef cient management for SMBs. The ability to deliver a wide range of items on a timeline that meets shoppers’ expectations helps SMBs build trust and credibility. “It positions them as agile and resourceful, with logistics capabilities that rival those of much larger companies,” Moon explains. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT MEETS AI Large organizations have been in the AI game for a while, taking advantage of the massive amounts of data the technology enables to better understand their customers and dominate the ecommerce sector. Meanwhile, SMBs struggle with disorganized data, a lack of resources and access to AI tools. The stakes are high for retail SMBs.
By outsourcing delivery, SMBs can serve a broader area within their community without the costs of owning and maintaining a delivery fleet. For instance, a orist knows to manage inventory and schedule staff in anticipation of increased demand for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, but its delivery eet might be limited to one or two vehicles. An unexpected surge in orders, such as a hardware store Depending on the nature of their business, SMBs can face formidable and often expensive challenges scaling to meet demand during peak periods. Perhaps more signi cantly, the challenges they face typically lie outside their area of expertise.
But ODW had a different plan: showcasing its 3PL capabilities, ODW demonstrated that Branch Basics could achieve ef ciency and ful llment by downsizing to a single node. SMART STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING GOALS ODW implemented standardized case labeling and created an invaluable item master that acknowledged changes in SKUs and how goods are packaged. Branch Basics is also appreciative of ODW’s freight brokerage services and less-than-truckload (LTL) capabilities. When the partnership with ODW began, consumers could nd Branch Basics products only on the company’s website. The company has since embraced the omnichannel world—a stated goal—and now sells its products on Amazon as well. “Branch Basics now has a mindset where it can continue to accelerate business growth, says Casey Nofziger, vice president of business development at ODW Logistics.
Crowdsourced delivery platforms such as Roadie help SMBs oer same-day delivery and easy returns.
144 Inbound Logistics • January 2025
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