be a brand’s closest interaction with the customer. However, that critical piece of the relationship is out of the shipper’s hands. “The technology projects the brand on the doorstep, and the carrier has to be a transparent extension of that brand to provide a closer customer experience,” Ramanan says. Last-mile tech companies focus on making sure any driver can complete a delivery that makes the customer happy, taking into account details on which doorstep to leave a box or what times to avoid. When he joined Jitsu about a year ago, Ramanan delivered a few packages to test the system. During one delivery,
Retailers and merchants explore last- mile options to manage capacity or enter new markets. Hub Group works with large retailers that want to offer daily delivery seven days a week instead of ve, for example, or move to delivery six days a week in a low population geography. Retailers want to compete on speed to market, so when a customer places an order it will be available when they want it. Some shippers offer free shipping in certain ZIP codes and increase marketing efforts to ll that capacity. “A lot of shippers are starting to waive delivery fees, but they still have the burden of paying for it,” Robider says. Ultimately, setting up a mattress or delivering a new garden swing may
for a shipper to know what’s going on with an order in real time. But with the right technology solutions, it’s like the shipper is operating its own carrier eet. “Shippers can see where the driver is and where a shipment will be delayed,” says Khaled Naim, CEO of OnFleet. “They can even have the communications from the recipient routed to them directly.” Consumer service expectations have spilled over into the business world, as people who are used to fast home deliveries from Amazon want the same speed at work. For example, food distributors now offer three-hour service to deliver restaurant supplies, when in the past a manager would send a waiter to a nearby store to replenish the napkin stock. “Food distributors have enhanced their technology to better match up to customer systems and build out their own delivery network for the restaurants,” says Samir Tejani, a director at global strategy consulting rm Stax.
Pick-Ups Pick Up
Parcel pick-up locations—or out-of-home options—help shippers control costs and reduce the threat of porch piracy from the last mile. Door-to-door shipments can get bogged down in trac and leave customers’ purchases vulnerable to
theft. Rising fuel and labor costs drive up the expense for each doorstep drop-o. Overall, home delivery is the least ecient transportation option, according to Kearney research. Deliveries to a business usually have lower rates compared to a residence because carriers can complete multiple deliveries in one stop. In many cities, customers can choose from a network of convenient and secure pick-up locations. Major pick-up outlets include Walgreens and Dollar General, which host UPS or FedEx access points. Large retailers including Home Depot, Kohl’s, and Target oer pick-up and drop-o lockers onsite for customer convenience. Retailers see parcel services as a marketing tool, as customers tend to shop while they pick up a delivery at the store. Walmart reports it lowered the cost of home deliveries by 20% in 2023 with an emphasis on store-fulfilled sales and parcel stations that stage products for home delivery by the company or independent drivers. Delivering more packages per route helps Walmart “densify the last mile,” said CFO John D. Rainey in an earnings call. Out-of-home locations are more common in Europe, where bulk volumes surpass door deliveries. In the United States, lower delivery costs could entice more shoppers to accept delivery at alternate locations.
Jitsu provides software infrastructure and services to brands wanting to optimize the customers’ delivery experience. Driver dispatch and routing apps improve on-time delivery and reliability.
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