The race of accumulating more and more customers is never-ending and everyone is trying to soar in the marathon of faster delivery. From customers being satisfied with 2 to 3 days delivery time, people have now started to expect same day delivery options. If organizations implement flawed same day delivery models then they have to face an increase in the costs. However, according to Accenture, if the right strategy and design are used, the same day delivery can be cheaper than next day delivery and competitive with the cost of second-day delivery.
Why you should think about this seriously?
According to a recent study by American Express, more than 50% of online buyers ascribe same day delivery before they become loyal customers. Many customers also said that if same day delivery were possible then they would switch to buying products online instead of buying from stores.
It is completely feasible to optimize business costs while offering business services. Here are a few things you should consider –
- Acquire a supply chain structure that supports digital technology
When we are talking about same day delivery, many of us are going to say that transportation and route optimization are best possible ways to implement the same day delivery model. This isn’t true because there are other factors that influence this model as much as the transportation and route optimization does. Digital technology allows us real time tracking and other optimization features that can help in implementing same day delivery methods for any on-demand business. According to a survey, many organizations are not investing in technology to become agile and efficient, only 13% are. However, those who are focusing on new paths like analytics (37%), artificial intelligence and machine learning (22%), cloud (8%) and digitalization (5%) are excelling in providing a sustainable delivery system.
- Choosing your partners wisely
The scope of optimization lies in the planning and fulfillment phases of execution. Inventory and hub optimizations are the fundamental things to be considered. If an optimized process for product shipment and distribution is applied, the cycle time for processing and shipping can be reduced. For customers to order through a web portal or a mobile app, some capability is needed that allows optimization to achieve same-day delivery with right products. If the method implemented becomes successful, it would revolutionize the company’s impression on the market and the customer’s expectations as well.
- Selection of Products
To offer same-day delivery, products need to be locally available. According to the business operation model, the availability of the products on the regional level will serve the purpose. This becomes feasible when an online retailer generates sufficient number of orders to allow repeated pickup/delivery routes to the main urban centers. However, same-day delivery is still a premium service that is available only to urbanized regions and not across the nation.
- Shipping large-scale orders
If the quantity of orders is huge, then an ecosystem of same-day delivery can be created which would increase the number of orders that can be placed and delivered in one day. High volume and increase in service will reduce the cost-per-package, which would make same-day delivery even more achievable.
There was another study done on what would be the impact of same day delivery if done correctly, delivering the right product to the right customer segment and location, that clearly depicted increased chances of superior customer experience. While analyzing the facts related to same day delivery it is important to keep the following in mind:
- What products would be more suitable for same day delivery
- Who would be the targeted customers
- From where you are going to deliver
Next step is to execute the plan with the help of your partners. If you target the most densely populated cities, you could achieve a 50% same day delivery success rate. You can provide better customer experience and improved profitability by increasing the number of returning buyers. This could also enable greater service levels and reduced delivery costs to the customer. In the coming times, the growth of same-day delivery will be a win-win for both businesses and customers.
Consumer needs are increasing day by day and the companies, that notice this, will start working on same day delivery models and will be in a safer position to expand their capabilities in future as well. By ratifying the right technologies, wisely choosing their partners and analyzing which products can be delivered same day, companies will be able to improve their status in the market.
