How last mile delivery will impact customer retention this holiday season

As more consumers migrate towards online shopping in the leadup to Christmas, fast and cheap delivery isn’t just a “nice to have” - it’s the expectation of every online shopping experience. The demand for fast delivery of goods places more pressure on delivery businesses to get gifts in the hands of consumers on-time. Therefore, opting for a seamless last mile delivery has become a ‘must have’ for all e-commerce retailers this holiday season. 

Last mile delivery is the movement of goods from a warehouse shelf or transportation hub to the final delivery destination, generally a personal residence. In addition to being both the most expensive and time-consuming part of the shipping process, the last mile also affects customer loyalty and retention. 

For these reasons, retailers, on-demand delivery companies and logistics companies need to improve their competitive advantage with new technologies and processes that can improve their last mile delivery experience.

Let’s explore how HERE Technologies Location Services can improve last mile delivery processes and keep customers happy this Christmas:

Improved delivery time

It wasn’t too long ago that five business days was considered fast service. However, with e-retail giants such as Amazon offering two-hour delivery, same-day delivery and release-date delivery, customers now expect affordable and fast delivery accompanied by an exceptional level of customer service. The faster the promised delivery date and more often a business keeps its word on delivery promptness, the higher the level of trust and loyalty from the customer.

With high performance map rendering, turn-by-turn driver navigation and the ability to alter plans on-the-fly, HERE Technologies can help organisations improve their delivery times with the HERE SDK. Furthemore, the HERE Technologies Fleet Telematics API can help fleet management teams plan and optimise their drivers to improve job allocation based on vehicle restrictions and delivery windows.

Real-time delivery updates

The excitement of buying a product must be sustained until the moment the product is delivered into the customer’s hands. This can be done with real-time driver tracking and updates. 

More retailers are offering consumers the ability to track their order, receive accurate delivery dates and receive notifications of any traffic delays that will impede on the initial delivery window.

However, visibility in the last mile is not just for the benefit of customers, but also for logistics companies to monitor the movement of their stock and avoid products being misplaced, damaged, or lost. Retaining customers costs five times less than generating new ones, so visibility is crucial for businesses as most consumers have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to shipping mix-ups. 

HERE Technologies’ Routing API can perform time and distance calculations using real-time or historical traffic conditions. Combined with HERE Technologies’ geofencing capability, companies can considerably improve the ability to provide real-time delivery updates and ETAs using automated alerts. 

For example, when a food delivery or ride-sharing driver is within a close distance of a customer's home, the customer is notified with a live update to prepare to receive the order or catch their lift. 

Meet Service Level Agreements with better ETAs

With higher expectations around customer experience and quality of service, many fleet operators commit to strict Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with their end customers. The ability to meet scheduled Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs) while maximising their asset utilisation and route efficiency, helps to retain customers and can save the business delivery costs.

HERE Technologies enables companies to calculate and communicate more accurate ETAs and shipping costs to help improve end-user satisfaction and make sure deadlines are met. 

By using HERE Technologies in your fleet management solution, you can: 

• Plan for and communicate with drivers using the HERE SDK on accurate ETAs and changes to traffic using real-time traffic flow conditions and historical traffic patterns.

• Alert drivers when they exceed speed limits and update drivers on speed limit changes and heavy vehicle speed restrictions with the HERE SDK. Further, the HERE Technologies Fleet Telematics API can notify the fleet manager during post analysis if the driver exceeded the speed limits to ensure their safety in future trips.

Get the highest level of “to-the-door” or loading zone entrance arrival accuracy with the HERE Places Footprints to ensure that customer on-time arrival requirements are met.

Want to find out more about last mile delivery? 

Next Mile Location Technology (Next Mile) is a distributor of HERE Technologies cross Australia and New Zealand. Our team is focused on optimising business operations and improving efficiency across a range of industries. 

If your business is looking for a seamless last mile delivery service or wants to explore the many ways location intelligence can benefit your business, reach out to our team who would be happy to hear about your next project.