Key Benefits of Increased Visibility in Last Mile Delivery!

Supply Chain Visibility Has Never Been More Important!

Last-mile delivery visibility is key to business success. In fact, 93% of customers say they want to be informed with increased visibility throughout the entire delivery journey, from in-transit status through to final arrival date.

Moreover, 47% of customers refuse to even place a second order with a business with poor delivery visibility. By improving last-mile visibility with cutting-edge analytics software, you can boost your business’ productivity and customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as benefit from accurate KPI benchmarking. 

Improve productivity

Clear last-mile visibility puts an end to unforeseen productivity-killing curveballs, including en-route delays, so delivery managers can keep last mile routes optimized to ensure quick and efficient deliveries.

Modern last-mile visibility software that gives you both micro- and macro-level visibility over your entire operations can also help you increase operational efficiency and prevent common delivery problems (like route diversions, prolonged and/or needless delays, and vehicle idling) that slow down the runnings of your business.

By allowing you to stay proactive, respond to last-minute customer requests, and communicate complete updates to customers as needed, last-mile visibility is key to increasing overall productivity. In turn, customer satisfaction is improved, as well as brand loyalty thanks to transparency (in fact, as many as 98% of customers say delivery plays a key role in their loyalty to a certain brand). 

Predictive visibility

Innovative last mile visibility tools, such as route optimization software, relies on machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to let delivery managers benefit from predictive visibility: you’ll know whether your delivery will arrive on-time or run into delays well before it nears your customer’s address.

As such, data-driven corrective steps can easily be implemented to optimize routes and keep customers updated about ETAs. Moreover, predictive visibility is essential for ensuring customer loyalty as customers demand accurate, up-to-date information on the status of their delivery and when it’ll arrive.

Although some businesses provide customers with tracking codes as a visibility solution, these pale in comparison to real-time updates that keep customers informed on every step of the last-mile process. Route optimization software with customer notifications, in particular, sends customers an email or SMS when they’re delivery is next up. Despite being a simple feature, notifications can boost customer satisfaction significantly.  

Accurate KPI benchmarking

 
Strong last-mile visibility also helps your business facilitate accurate KPI benchmarking. With cutting-edge optimization software, you’ll have no trouble staying abreast of essential KPI factors, including route efficiency, driver productivity, journey delays, ETA goals, on-time deliveries, first-attempt success rates, and unsuccessful deliveries.

Moreover, by eliminating unnecessary delays like unprecedented stoppages and route diversions, clear visibility into last-mile operations significantly improves delivery turnaround-time and ensures your business sticks to ETAs. 

Clear last-mile delivery visibility is essential for long-term business success. By improving productivity, predictive visibility, and accurate KPI benchmarking, last-mile delivery visibility can help you improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and therefore keep you permanently ahead of the competition.  

Photo by Sam LaRussa on Unsplash

Increased visibility article and permission to publish here provided by Cindy Cummings. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on March 2, 2022.