Ways to improve the logistics last mile

The advancement of digitalization in the business world has posed a new challenge for companies seeking to find ways to improve the logistics last mile to provide greater efficiency in the delivery of service to increasingly demanding and service-conscious consumers. the different offers on the market.

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According to a study carried out by Nielsen, called Connected Commerce, utility is one of the main aspects that consumers value when deciding to buy a product or service. Now people are looking for more agile negotiation experiences, where the purchase process is quick and satisfies their needs since they don't have time to dedicate to shopping either.

Sometimes, no matter how efficient the production process is, the delivery of products cannot always be managed with the same efficiency, since it depends on various factors that can delay outbound logistics or what we know as the last mile, that is, the last leg of the supply chain, when the product must be delivered to the customer once it left the warehouse.

For this reason, the last mile often incurs undesirable costs that affect delivery logistics and the customer's experience with product delivery. Preventing this from happening is critical when customer satisfaction is at stake. Thus, companies agree that they must place special emphasis on finding ways to improve the last mile to reduce those costs and increase customer satisfaction.

In this article, the proposal is to identify the usual problems that arise in the distribution of products and what are those ways to improve the last logistics mile.

Common problems in the last mile

Since electronic commerce dominates the market for the acquisition of products or services, people are more concerned about how the products will be shipped, if they will arrive on the established date, and if there will be no faults, among other issues.

All this is since customers do not have contact with the product during the commercial process, so they cannot have a direct experience with it before issuing the payment. Only when the product reaches customers can they get to know it and establish some type of interaction with the dispatch logistics agents, so that they supervise that everything is in order and the product is received by the buyers.

Taking into account the above, the main problems in the last mile are detailed below.

1. Failed deliveries due to the absence of the recipient.

Normally, residents are not at home when an order arrives, including the recipient of the order, so the order must be returned to the warehouse if the customer cannot be contacted, with all the costs that this implies, such as fuel costs for failed delivery and wasted carbon dioxide emissions.

This would not happen if, during the last mile, customers were contacted before the delivery to verify that they are at home to receive the order or, better still, customers were given the estimated day and time so that they would be warned that at that date at that time they must be present at home.

2. Increased pollution due to the use of small vehicles.

Sometimes, the number of products to be shipped is too small to create an efficient and profitable routing plan. Because of this, most last-mile deliveries are made via small vehicles. Consequently, the carbon footprint will be greater in a small vehicle than in a large one.

3. Recipient signature required.

Likewise, in home deliveries, a signature is usually necessary to corroborate that the delivery was made correctly. It implies a guarantee of compliance by the distribution logistics and by the client by being present to receive their order and issuing their signature.

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Ways to improve the last mile

If we think of an efficient company in the last mile, undoubtedly, Amazon is the one that first comes to mind, since Bezos's multinational leads the market with the application of artificial intelligence, drones, and robotics technology.

In this sense, transportation software to monitor the last mile as a cell phone application can significantly improve the efficiency of this logistics process. But now let's see what other ways to improve the last mile we identify.

1. Implementation of digital tools and software in the cloud.

Logistics tracking systems stored in the cloud allow you to control, supervise and modify the last-mile process from any device connected to a reliable WIFI network. This guarantees greater product traceability to managers and operators since they can obtain more efficient remote monitoring and coordination.

Even using satellite tracking, better tracking can be achieved than with traditional GPS, since it can be downloaded as an application and handled in a simpler and more agile way.

2. Fleet management and route planning.

The fleet management method can contribute to generating benefits such as achieving greater cargo capacity, regulating fuel consumption, and obtaining greater safety. In the case of transport routing, carriers must be notified through the postal services about the packages that must be picked up on the logistics route, or when a customer changes the destination to where they will receive a product.

3. Increased traceability of the products until they are received by the customer.

The real-time tracking of the product from when it leaves the warehouse until it reaches the customer's hands is one of the aspects that most makes the difference between an efficient logistics process and one that is not.

Greater traceability implies maintaining supervision over the vehicle fleet, having visibility over delivery times, route control, anticipating possible obstacles such as street closures, and demonstrations, and also identifying effective delivery rates.

4. Business intelligence on logistics processes.

Lately, one of the practices most highlighted by various logistics managers to improve the last mile is the outsourcing of logistics services, that is, paying for the vehicles of other companies to carry out the distribution of products. This has required the use of certain tools with integrated business intelligence and reporting modules.

5. Indicators of satisfaction and continuous improvement of the customer experience.

Improving customer experience should be the most important goal of companies. For this reason, only by measuring their satisfaction, they will be able to detect the problems that will allow them to find those opportunities to improve the service in the last mile.

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In conclusion, throughout this article, we have identified, first of all, the main logistics problems and then, the ways to improve the last logistics mile, which, after all, is the decisive instance for your customers, based on the experience of purchase they had, they will buy you again.