Every stage of the logistics process of delivering goods is crucial from the time a parcel leaves the hands of the sender up to when the courier completes the delivery.

There is no point more high-priority than that of the last mile delivery stage, where the goods from a transportation hub are moved by courier, to their final delivery destination.

The goal of last mile delivery is to transport an item to its recipient in the quickest way possible. This is due to the continuously evolving market and demand for convenient customer experience across industries.

Last mile delivery has been a key factor for businesses across the globe. Consumers easily look for alternatives if their logistics partners come up short in providing top-notch supply chain services. This is crucial in building brand loyalty that could help companies take a huge slice of the market share.

There are important elements involved in the last mile delivery process that customers are looking for namely the speed, timeliness, accuracy, and precision of the product deliveries after reaching their endpoint.

It is quite ironic that the shortest and quickest leg of the whole logistics process is also the most crucial, so it covers a lot of territories.

Before the boom of e-commerce, the delivery endpoint of goods are the brick and mortar stores where consumers must go to and purchase the goods physically. But now, the last mile delivery has made things more complicated since the goods must be delivered by couriers to each of the consumers who purchased the goods at different destinations.

This leaves the consumers the option to choose which courier company could provide the last mile delivery service they need. This presents important factors consumers must consider when going for the most efficient service.

Important Factors to Consider in Choosing a Last Mile Courier Delivery Service

Fast delivery

This should be on the top of your list when offering to provide the best last mile delivery solutions. Consumers would always go for fast delivery service, with most even preferring same day delivery.

So if you can provide the fastest and most efficient, your services would definitely be in demand.

Precise order tracking

The flow of information within the last mile delivery process is crucial particularly for consumers since they would always want to know the status of their delivery.

While traditional courier services provide a general indication where the goods are, a more precise real-time tracker is what consumers want.

Security and insurance

There is a considerable risk involved whenever consumers decided to leave their purchased goods in your hands and trust you to have them delivered in a timely manner.

If you provide a guarantee that they will arrive safely, you have won half the battle. But if you offer an attractive insurance benefit on the off chance the package is mishandled, you are most likely going to get your business going.

This is the reason why courier companies add a relatively low surcharge for insurance, with some offering a warranty already included in their rates up to a certain amount in case the goods are damaged or lost during transit. This kind of guarantee puts your customers at ease and eventually boosts your trust rating.

Specialisation

At the very least, there should be one feature about your service that sets you apart from the competition. 

Ultimately, all these add-on services could considerably put you ahead of even the most popular standard courier services that are taking a huge chunk of the market. And once your special offerings start to gain traction, more consumers would eventually acquire your services.

Convenience

Gone are the days when customers would have to bring their parcels to the post office to have them shipped. It has become more convenient since then, with courier companies putting up satellite branches in strategic locations for easier access.

And while all this is great, technology has now changed the game with apps that took the service to a whole new level of convenience.

Despite having all these factors that could help consumers determine if you are up to the job, there are still a slew of challenges you must address so that you could be an effective last mile delivery service provider.

Last Mile Delivery Challenges

The last leg of this logistics process is no walk in the park as earlier stated, but to become effective, you must first identify these issues to tackle them more effectively.

Cost

Due to its inefficiency, the last mile delivery section of the whole logistics process can be expensive in terms of operational cost.

With the huge undertaking involved to send each package by courier to its end user, this is easily one of the biggest challenges of last mile delivery.

Efficiency

The nature of last mile delivery itself has proved to be a challenge mainly because of the sheer volume of end users the parcels need to be delivered to. This service would require a massive fleet of vehicles each driven by required personnel.

Not until recently we have seen a glimmer of hope in this sector, and we have advances in technology to thank for this.

Transparency

Consumers would always like to be in the know when it involves the items they purchase. This rings particularly true in the courier industry where traditional companies started using tracking codes to give their customers some information on the status of their delivery.

In this era where technology rules, tracking codes just don’t cut it with customers anymore. What they want is full disclosure on where their delivery is in real time so that they know when it’s going to arrive. At Greg Paulson Same Day Couriers Ltd, we are in constant communication with our drivers, so we can update you at any point of your parcel's journey to you.

Friction

A smooth overall delivery experience is ideal to boost efficiency and cut costs, but there are still small bumps that must be dealt with that prevents this from happening. Courier companies are now on the move to take on these challenges for a more streamlined service. With the help of technology, they are now being addressed one after the other.

Source: Jake Smith -- http://supplychaingamechanger.com