Last-mile deliveries occasionally illustrate Murphy’s Law, which states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Much can go wrong, including late or early deliveries, damaged goods, and other issues. But more than any of these potential pitfalls, consumers highlight poor communication as the main cause of poor experiences.
Customers have had ample opportunity by this point to form conflicting views. The number of large and bulky deliveries has been rising, and over the past few years, more consumers than ever have received scheduled deliveries.
The benchmark for a great delivery experience will become increasingly codified as volumes keep growing. Brands unable to deliver that experience will find it more challenging to attract new clients and keep hold of current ones.
Fortunately, as a retailer or distributor, one has much control over the factors that customers believe contribute to a great delivery experience. There isn’t much one can do about traffic jams, severe weather, or global supply chain disruptions—but brands have complete control over how business interacts with customers while making deliveries.
Let’s now look at why great last mile communication is such a challenge.
Why Is Great Last Mile Communication Such a Challenge Today?
Consumers blame poor communication for poor shipping experiences more frequently than for poor item conditions, high delivery fees, or other factors. It is easy to understand why consumers place such a high value on communication: for example, purchasing furniture or appliances is frequently expensive, and consumers want everything to go smoothly.
They might be stuck with a broken fridge or a three-foot sofa for longer than expected if there is a delivery catastrophe. However, their anxiety begins to subside once they know when their order will be filled, when it will be delivered, and what to anticipate at each step.
As we previously stated, brands have total control over how they interact with consumers when carrying out a delivery order. So why is this such a frequent roadblock for last-mile deliveries?
Here are some of the causes:
Calls on the Phone Don’t Scale
Even though the majority of consumers prefer texts than calls, using a communication method that requires stakeholders to manually send out messages one at a time will be problematic if they are delivering more than a dozen orders per day.
Visibility Is Difficult on the Last Mile
It may seem obvious, but businesses must ensure that all the information is current to keep customers informed throughout the fulfillment process. For example, brands can’t let other consumers on the route know when their deliveries are coming up if they don’t know what stop the delivery truck is at.
By Hand, Calculating Arrival Times Can Be Very Speculative
If brands tell their consumers the day before the delivery that the driver will be at the delivery location between 8 am and 6 pm, that hardly qualifies as transparency. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to accurately predict when the truck will arrive without the proper tools, even after drivers have begun their routes.
This implies that brands can’t always inform consumers that their orders will be ready in 30 minutes.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges is that to provide a positive experience, business must still deliver at the appropriate time. Customer expectations, however, are not evolving out of thin air; rather, they are altering as a result of consumers realizing that it is possible to steer clear of these pitfalls and produce delightful experiences.
How to Change the Way Brands Communicate with Consumers?
On some level, the technology sets the tone for the level of communication the consumers require. Therefore, they immediately need the following skills:
Real-Time Last Mile Visibility
Data must move swiftly and precisely within and beyond the business to provide correct, up-to-date delivery information to the clients. Of course, the entire supply chain must be integrated for this to work, but inventory, delivery management, route optimization, and driver management are especially important. For example, a brand’s system must track the driver’s whereabouts and statuses about route plans to update ETAs in real-time, especially on the last mile.
Customer Order Tracking
Once the consumers have the visibility level we discussed in the last bullet, turning that visibility around and making it available to the customers can have a huge impact. For example, clients are less likely to call in nervous about their purchases when they can follow their items in real-time from the comfort of their phones, tablets, and laptops. Additionally, there is less chance they may leave at precisely the incorrect time and miss the delivery.
Consistently On-Time Deliveries
Consumers are undeniably more understanding of some setbacks than before the pandemic. However, they won’t be happy to get communications demonstrating erratic and chaotic delivery.
The best thing one can do from the perspective of the customer experience when maximizing the visibility brand provides clients is to provide visibility into something that is operating efficiently.
How Can Pickrr Help Brands in Reaching the Customers Better?
Pickrr is a SaaS-based enabler that focuses on providing an exceptional shipping and post purchase experience to its customers.
Pickrr Connect helps brands in a two-way communication with their customers. This tool enables D2C brands to give their customers precise real-time updates on the status and location of their orders. It provides the data via email, WhatsApp, and SMS. Additionally, the gadget is simple to integrate with any D2C platform, making it accessible and user-friendly.
Conclusion
It can be challenging to optimize the delivery processes from the customer’s point of view, but getting there is straightforward: all they need is the correct technology. First, brands require right-time delivery management software to foster organizational agility and connectedness across their numerous touchpoints. In this method, neither the deliveries themselves nor the consumers’ communications will frequently go wrong.
