Final Mile Logistics: What Is Final Mile Delivery?

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Final Mile Logistics What Is Final Mile Delivery?
by Ayushi Nagalia Last updated Jun 8, 2023 at
308PM
If in todays day and age you are not aware of
what is final mile delivery, you are missing out
on thousands of dollars! Learn how to integrate
final mile logistics into your business! Table
of Contents Gone are the days when final mile
delivery was a novelty service. In a world where
by 2040 all purchases will be made online,
final-mile logistics holds a centrepiece in
supply chains. And this is not the case for only
D2C or B2C companies. This is also the case for
product-based B2B businesses. Everybody wants
their orders and products at their doorstep
without exception. So, in this world, how can
final mile delivery be just a novelty service?
Its not, right? So, why still consider a luxury
your business efforts indulge in? In this blog,
we will tell you all about final mile logistics
and delivery. We will showcase how you can
integrate in your business, how it works, and why
you are missing out on at least 26 of net
profits by negating final mile logistics!
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Learn About TrackoMiles Final-mile Automation
Here!
What Is Final Mile Delivery? Final mile
logistics, or better known as last mile
logistics, is the final leg of a products
journey in the supply chain. It is the process of
transporting the product form the final seller or
hub to the final consumer. The whole point of
final mile delivery is that customers should get
the product in the quickest, affordable, and
smoothest way possible. This itself is a huge
challenge because final mile logistics is in fact
the most expensive stage of the supply chain.
Read this Blog To Know Everything About
Last-mile Delivery!
Who Uses Final Mile Delivery? The answer to this
question is simple any business that needs
their products to reach the end consumer needs a
final mile delivery system. The biggest
businesses that use last mile delivery are
ecommerce businesses, retailers, hyperlocal
delivery platforms, businesses in the food and
grocery sector, logistics firms, local
restaurants, and parcel companies. As long as
your products need to reach the end consumer and
need interaction with them, you need final mile
logistics!
Read this Blog Interested in using EVs for Your
Last-mile Efforts?
How Does Final Mile Logistics Work for
Businesses? Every business that involves selling
products needs to add final mile logistics into
their business one way or another. Well, by one
way or another, we mean, one of of the two
following ways Building an in-house delivery
management system Employing a 3PL service to take
care of the entire supply chain
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For businesses that have enough infrastructure,
funds, time, and other resources to devote to
in-house supply chain management, the former is a
good choice. (For example, Amazon) However, most
modern businesses, be them ecommerce platforms,
or product manufacturers choose the latter (for
example, FirstCry uses Xpressbees for their last
mile delivery efforts) for two specific
reasons In-house supply chain management takes
too much efforts Outsourcing delivery allows them
to focus better on product management and
branding The final mile delivery system that you
choose to use depends on your business format and
resources. However, no matter whether you are in
favour of an in-house delivery management system
or outsourcing the entire ordeal, make sure that
you are using an efficient last-mile delivery
management software for fool-proof management.
How Long Does Final Mile Delivery Take? Every
business takes different durations to fulfil
final mile deliveries. This variation comes from
factors such as Urgency of the
package/delivery ETA promises made to the end
consumer Infrastructural integrity and
strength The delivery partner Location of the
sender/warehouse and the consumer
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The general final mile logistics cycle can be
anything between 0-10 days. But to really
understand how much time it takes businesses to
complete a final mile delivery and why it takes
them that long, you need to understand the
process of final mile delivery. Lets have a
look! Step 1 Customers orders are recorded by
the manufacturer/seller manually or into a
centralised customer management system. Step 2
The goods are transported from the manufacturer
to the nearest delivery hub. This is part of
middle-mile logistics. This step, of course, is
not applicable to local sellers and retailers who
might be the nearest hub to begin with. Step 3
Either manually or through software, delivery
agents are assigned to all last mile deliveries,
along with a recommended route. Using software in
this step significantly reduces operational time
since what can take hours to do manually is
automated with the software. Step 4 The delivery
agents set out with the parcel for delivery. Step
5 The parcel is finally delivered to the
customer and the manufacturer (if using a
software for management) receives proof of
delivery. As you can see, the process is pretty
long. However, it can be shortened massively with
last mile delivery software and proper supply
chain management. And shortening the process as
much as possible is advisable, because with
faster delivery systems available, 25 customers
abandon the cart if same-day delivery options are
not available.
What Are There Challenges With Final Mile
Deliveries? Theres no shortcut to success.
Theres so substitute for hard work to overcome
challenges. But, where do you put your hard work
if you are not even aware of the challenges in
front of you? Final mile logistics comes with so
many challenges, which is exactly why it is
something so fruitful if you get it right! Let us
look at some of them here
Same-day Delivery Expectations The logistics
system has become a lazy logisticians
nightmare. Amazons same-day delivery services
have driven customer expectations to an all-time
high and made their patience go to an all time
low. If you do not offer same-day delivery,
depending on your business-type, you are likely
to lose 30 of millennial buyers! However,
managing such a service requires very strong
infrastructural and managerial strength,
especially in case of larger businesses that do
not only operate in a local vendor setting.
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Managing Deliveries In Different Geographic
Segments The kind of delivery management you
require for rural areas is very different from
what you require for large metropolitan cities.
After all, customer expectations are different,
delivery partners exposure differs, and so does
the areas infrastructure. Building service
resilience for both unplanned rural areas and
well as high-rise societies is not a childs
play. From vehicle management to route planning,
the approach is different, and you will have to
build on them simultaneously to maximise your
reach.
Meeting ETAs In Spite of Road Congestions Everybod
y hates traffic congestion. But you know who
hates them the most? People in a hurry! And you
know who is in a lot of hurry? Delivery persons
carrying packages in the final mile supply
chain! Traffic congestion is a huge problem when
businesses have promised that the customer will
get their package in 10 minutes. Because even a
delay of 5 minutes means 50 delay and that is
HUGE! After all, 70 of consumers will say that
if they receive a package late, they are more
likely to browse the competition for future
services! However, traffic cannot be avoided and
it becomes a huge challenge for businesses to
navigate the roads when the car in front of you
will JUST. NOT. MOVE!
Providing Affordable Deliveries With Rising
Costs The final mile delivery segment takes up
about 53 of the total shipping cost of a
package. Whats more, a single failed delivery
can cost about 18. (Read this blog to know more
facts and stats!) However, regardless of what it
costs the business, the end consumer will not pay
too much for doorstep delivery. (If you charge
it, you are likely to lose all loyalty!) With
rising fuel, manpower, and infrastructural costs,
managing affordable deliveries becomes a HUGE
challenge for businesses offering doorstep
delivery (engaging in final mile logistics).
Managing a Complex Network of Drivers The larger
the operational area, the bigger the
complications! After all, businesses will have to
maintain a huge network of drivers and riders.
Managing their attendance, productivity, tasks,
and performance is almost impossible without
software backing. Obviously, the more the
drivers and orders, the more the number of trips
a manager will have to manage and maintain.
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Challenges Everywhere! Learn About Challenges In
Supply Chains and How To Overcome Them!
Whats the Benefit of Final Mile Delivery
Software? Sure, the challenges to final mile
logistics are overwhelming. But you dont have to
worry about anything because you use last mile
delivery software, dont you? Its okay (for
now) if you dont, though because after reading
the following benefits, you will definitely start
using technology to your advantage!
Real-time Tracking and Visibility Real-time
tracking is one of the primary features of any
final mile delivery software. Therefore, you will
maintain maximum visibility into your operations.
And the higher the visibility, the more you can
be satisfied that everything is okay. And even if
it isnt at least you will know before its too
late!
Trip, Task, and Capacity Management The software
will collect all the data regarding delivery
windows, package size, drivers, etc. Then, it
creates the most efficient route to go about it
all while managing the capacity on each vehicle
and managing drivers shifts. Pretty,
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nifty, right?
Increased Operational Efficiency A final mile
delivery software will ensure that all tasks,
trips, orders, drivers, and all the rest will be
streamlined. With fewer manual mistakes, you will
definitely see a huge spike in operational
efficiency. This efficiency can also be observed
in how much more time your managers will have at
hand to strategize better! Youll be saving a lot
of costs, time, manpower, and other resources on
the field!
Reduced Delivery Errors and Delays No more do you
have to deal with delivery errors. With the right
delivery management system for the final mile,
your efforts will always be automated and free of
manual errors that will eventually cost you a lot
of time, effort, and money. Moreover, all the
transparency will come in handy when you can
navigate any errors that might have occurred.
Enhanced Customer Experience With deliveries made
on time and in a cost-effective manner, you are
sure to improve customer experience. Faster and
cheaper deliveries are two most important factors
to retain clients in your business. Since you
can now maintain ETA transparency, customers are
likely to trust your deliveries more too!
Improved Communication and Coordination Piggybacki
ng on the previous benefit, if your delivery
management is able to provide affordable and fast
deliveries, why will customers not be happy?
Every good final mile delivery management gets
you a loyal customer!
Learn How To Choose The Best Final-mile Delivery
Software Here!
Improve Customer Experience With TrackoMiles
Final Mile Deliveries Since final mile logistics
is such a crucial aspect of providing end-to-end
product delivery and building strong customer
loyalty, iot is crucial to pay close attention to
it. Final mile is not only here to stay, but
also to disrupt the logistics market to its full
capacity. As software systems advance, so will
customers expectations and competitions
efficiency. And you do not want to be cornered by
new
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businesses that do what you do better you,
right? That is exactly why you need a last-mile
delivery software like TrackoMile your one-stop
software solution to all things last mile
delivery. So, what are you waiting for, let us be
friends in your final mile delivery process so
that you can finalise better business everyday!
Ayushi Nagalia Ayushi Nagalia is a Senior
Content Specialist at TrackoBit. She is
passionate about music, writing, and
reading. When not abusing her keyboard, you will
find her lost in her playlists or organizing
things.
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