How to Deliver Orders on Time? Last Mile Solution

The best customer service when it comes to delivery service is the delivery of orders in full and on time. In this article, we discuss how to deliver orders on time.

Overview

Last-mile delivery poses significant challenges for creating a smooth, full-order experience for customers. The most prominent are time-sensitive, like real-time updates and on-time delivery. These challenges can lead to delays, dissatisfied customers, and increased operational costs. Finding a solution that addresses these issues is crucial for businesses seeking to provide reliable and efficient delivery services.

Approach

What are the main challenges in last-mile delivery?

The main challenges in last-mile delivery are connected to different parts of the service. The delivery starts with the collection of the order, where having an optimized number of couriers available can be a major cobblestone. The courier’s challenges include unpredictable traffic conditions and optimizing delivery routes with multiple orders. From the customer’s perspective, the lack of visibility of the order preparation & delivery can create anxiety and a negative experience can follow each decision to make an order. 

Finally, ensuring timely communication between the delivery service and courier can result in a logistical nightmare in case of negative feedback from customers - whether we’re talking about the order that arrived late, the order that doesn’t contain all items, or the order that (the worst case scenario) doesn’t even arrive yet you don’t see it in your system. 

How can warehouse management positively affect delivery? 

Effective warehouse management plays a vital role in last-mile delivery. The first logical step is to efficiently organize inventory so that stock levels (and expiration dates as those are significant for grocers) are known and updated accurately. The supporting process is the order fulfillment process that must be optimized to lessen the potential for misinformation about stock and reduce processing time. Ideally, companies that deal with delivery should strive to have real-time updates from the warehouse, and for every party affected: the company’s employees, the couriers, and the customers. 
By providing accurate information about the stock and processes the warehouse can critically affect the delivery process.

Solution

Yango Tech engineers developed a Last Mile service that concentrates on addressing the above-mentioned challenges and further improving the delivery process. It includes:

1. Dispatch System with Web Interface: This system allows for easy creation and management of courier shifts. It provides real-time updates, enabling efficient coordination between the warehouse and couriers. Additionally, it connects courier and customer - one via Courier App and the other via WL Store App, allowing real-time order track for the customers. 
2. Courier App: Courier App includes GPS tracking and maps integration. Couriers can navigate optimized routes, ensuring prompt deliveries. The app also facilitates communication with customers through a support chat function.
3. ML Surge Algorithm: Our proprietary machine learning surge algorithm helps manage demand and improve service levels. During peak hours, the algorithm introduces a minimum basket fee and delivery fee, ensuring that customers willing to pay more can still place orders while others may opt to wait. This ensures a balance between demand and supply.
4. ML Batching Algorithm: Our machine learning batching algorithm automatically groups orders from the same area and assigns them to a single courier. Even though the WMS & Courier app will have batched orders listed, the customers will receive only their accurate delivery time information. Order batching indirectly improves service levels by increasing order processing per hour (OPH) and directly decreases cost per order (CPO) as multiple orders are shipped with one courier at the same time.
5. Continuous Courier KPIs Tracking: Efficient courier shift capacity utilization is enabled through continuous tracking of courier key performance indicators (KPIs). This data-driven approach ensures optimal resource allocation and maximizes delivery efficiency. 

Results

Last Mile Solution brought multiple improvements to the delivery service on multiple parts of the full delivery cycle:

• Improved service levels (SL) through demand and supply curve optimization, leading to timely deliveries and customer satisfaction.
• Increased the number of orders and decreased the delivery cost by efficiently batching orders, reducing travel distances, and thus minimizing operational costs.
• Enhanced delivery efficiency and the number of orders through maps integration and GPS tracking in the Courier App, resulting in reduced cost per order. 
• Optimization of courier operations and real-time updates lead to a better quality of overall service for the customer while allowing couriers to further improve their quality of work.

By implementing Yango Tech Last Mile service, businesses can overcome the challenges of last-mile delivery, providing reliable and timely delivery experiences for their customers while optimizing their operational efficiency and reducing costs.