Major Challenges of Last Mile Delivery

1. Major Challenges of Last Mile Delivery The last mile delivery is frequently the only link in the e-commerce supply chain that directly touches the customer in a face-to-face scenario – typically on the door step with the interaction between delivery person and the consumer. Any company that is involved in managing the supply chain/ logistics understands that the complexities with last mile delivery solutions are numerous and specifically the last mile delivery is not an easy problem to solve. Last mile delivery is the most important yet least efficient leg of the supply chain. The difficulty of managing last mile delivery keeps growing. New customer expectations regarding time of delivery, overall delivery experience, and open communication have forced online retailers to invest in new technological solutions to manage their delivery operations towards last mile tracking India based locations as well as international locations.

2. To understand the unique challenges that ecommerce presents for last mile delivery, here are a few things you need to know – Poor Infrastructure– Last mile delivery companies face with challenges like city traffic in the urban areas and longer journeys in the remote areas. Poor infrastructure in the developing countries adds to the woe involving more time and cost, thus impacting the unit economics. Customer Nuances –E-commerce industry faces another set of problems with last mile delivery as their online sales have increased substantially over the past few years. Factors like incorrect address, difficult to find locations, no parking availability, no one available at home to receive order, change in mind – no longer requires the order, likelihood of returns and many other issues, all add up to the cost and time involved in an already competitive exercise. Transparency–In the modern on-demand era, tracking codes do not satisfy consumers anymore, they want to have full, real-time visibility of shipping & last mile delivery. In particular, they want to see the entirety of the last-mile – that is, they want to be able to see where the driver is and exactly when they will arrive. Whether the delivery is same-day or not, consumers still want to have more than a 4-hour window when waiting for their package.

3. Higher Fuel Cost– Did you know that 28% of the total delivery cost comes from the last-mile last mile delivery for ecommerce? In general, this often gets passed on to the customer. Cost is not a new issue, obviously, but new expectations; particularly regarding same-day/on-demand delivery has put a greater strain on budgets. Longer journey deliveries will be affected by higher fuel costs. The committed and credible workforce and the in herent sense of dedication and perfection has made Gati India’s leading name last-mile delivery & logistics for warehousing, International Freight Forwarding, Express Distribution Services, Supply Chain Solutions, Cold Chain Transportation Solutions, Custom Clearance and e-Commerce Solutions. Source : http://blog.gati.com/major-challenges-of-last-mile-delivery/