A major factor driving the growth of ecommerce has been its perceived convenience for customers – especially when it comes to avoiding visits to malls. Instead, buyers can have their items delivered to their doorsteps. However, this “last mile” element of ecommerce has also become much more complex as the volume of deliveries has grown exponentially. With complexity comes the risk of lost or missing parcels, and a resulting reduction in customer confidence in brands.
Ecommerce merchants will inevitably be judged on the point where their virtual service becomes tangible i.e. delivery. When things go wrong, brands can suffer reputational damage, and lose out on potential revenue if customers become reluctant to make future purchases.
In addition, criminals have not been slow to exploit this new industry. Worldwide,
parcel theft (or doorstep theft) is believed to impact up to 1 billion shipments per year, at a cost to the global economy of almost US$40 billion.
While these numbers are a source of real concern, the bigger worry for most consumers is the inconvenience of not knowing exactly when their parcel will be delivered. Lack of detailed knowledge about the progress of a delivery can impact the customer experience and create anxiety.
Customer surveys consistently show that people value delivery reliability above speed. Lack of available information about deliveries leads to courier companies and merchants having to field large volumes of
where is my order (WISMO) queries. However, the ecommerce industry is innovative by nature, and data-driven solutions are being rolled out to address these issues.
Cloud-based Interactive Delivery Management (IDM) is still in the development phase, but is expected to transform the delivery experience for all stakeholders by providing customers with unprecedented levels of visibility into, and control over, the delivery process.
Giving customers access to real-time information on when their item will arrive removes frustration and uncertainty. It also allows merchants to offer more options (potentially linked to a freemium-style payment model) e.g. overnight delivery at a premium price, or free, slower delivery for less urgent items.
Giving customers real-time updates means that enhanced services can also be offered, such as giving customers the option to reschedule or even reroute deliveries. This also has benefits for merchants, as it could lead to fewer failed deliveries (and less need to re-attempt them). Both costs and time could be saved, and customers who benefit from IDM will look more favourably on ecommerce sellers.
While this revolutionary logistics solution requires customers to have a reliable internet connection and a smart device, it offers answers to the many of the current last mile challenges which face ecommerce enterprises and their customers, and may shatter some of the barriers to entry preventing more consumers from shopping online more often.