6 Reasons to Choose a Logistics SaaS Solution

Retailers and other businesses are experiencing what you could describe as a luxury problem: customer demand is reaching new, record highs. At the same time, those same companies are facing difficulties managing demands for next-day delivery and higher volumes than ever before. As a result, they are now tasked with finding ways to make their operations more efficient. This has increased the need for firms to ensure that their logistics management is as efficient as possible. Fortunately, logistics software has the potential to help improve efficiency.

When it comes to getting the right logistics software, some businesses opt to build their logistics application via their in-house IT departments. Others turn to developers and providers of customizable logistics technology. Most others choose between vendors, some of whom may be offering on-premise solutions and others of whom might provide SaaS solutions. Given all these options, how are last mile operators supposed to choose the best option?

The Importance of Logistics Software

Now more than ever, businesses have to invest in digitized systems to manage the increasing delivery volume and customer demand. And indeed, more companies are adopting automation and digitization than ever before. One survey shows that nearly 60 percent of logistics providers are already using some kind of automated routing and dispatching, while the other 40% have plans to do so soon.

Logistics software systems help companies meet the increasing demands of customers while addressing the need of businesses to integrate their logistics software solutions into their other enterprise systems. Because they play such a crucial role in modern delivery operations, finding the right kind of solution is particularly critical. 

Why Choose Logistics SaaS Software?

We won’t beat around the bush, our perspective is that SaaS or cloud-based options are the way to go when it comes to logistics software. Why? Here are just a few reasons. 

Technical expertise

Your in-house IT team might have some experience developing a logistics management solution—but odds are this isn’t their specialty.

In contrast, a solution provider that specializes in logistics software will have a team of experts with many years in the field. You can be assured that the software they offer has been thoroughly tested by experts who are well versed in the challenges of the logistics industry.

Having a logistics SaaS platform from a reliable provider is particularly crucial since you cannot afford any downtime or problems with your logistics operations. It's essential to stress this point. Companies need to understand that the decision to invest in technological tools isn't merely about purchasing software, but also tapping into the existing knowledge of experts who can help you to keep logistics operations running smoothly.

Choosing, implementing, integrating, and optimizing is no walk in the park. Buying a logistics SaaS solution offers you additional support during the implementation and integration phases, thereby making the transition to a new system a lot easier.

Time constraints

Most companies that deliver to either businesses or consumers have more on their plates than ever these days—meaning that most businesses no longer have the luxury of spending months or years creating a software solution. Businesses can't afford to wait to optimize their logistics processes as they need to immediately digitize and automate to meet the increasing delivery volumes and customer demands. 

This applies to SaaS vs. on-prem as well. SaaS solutions will also free your IT team from the tasks of updating and maintaining software so they can focus on other high-value tasks. When you deploy to onsite servers, by contrast, you’re stuck devoting countless person-hours to maintenance and upgrades each year. 

Driver and fleet management

Businesses either maintain an in-house fleet, partner with third-party logistics (3PL) firms, or combine both options. Regardless of your business model, you must ensure efficient driver and fleet management to achieve your goals. 

Retailers rely on 3PL companies whom they expect to go beyond just merely delivering goods. Logistics providers are also expected to ensure excellent customer experiences that will boost brand loyalty. Maintaining control over carriers and drivers is one of the best ways for retailers to ensure that their drivers are offering delivery services that are up to par. 

Legacy route and delivery planning software allows you to view your in-house delivery teams' performance, but it often leaves you blind on how 3PLs and outsourced delivery teams are performing. SaaS logistics software can provide a way for you and your 3PL fleets to expand your delivery services without compromising your visibility, speed, or relationship with customers.

Integration

Most solutions that are created by in-house IT teams are hardcoded. This means, whatever changes are made in a third-party system may cause massive complications. On-prem solutions can have some of these same issues. 

By contrast, SaaS solutions make integration seamless. They allow disparate systems to be connected to each other. For example, 3PL companies' systems can easily be integrated with their clients’ so that route scheduling and planning processes are coordinated across fleets. Given the complexity of modern delivery management, the integration of TMS, POS, WMS, and other systems is crucial for gathering and transferring data among all teams involved in the order fulfillment process. 

Of course, the seamless integration of multiple, disparate systems with real-time data synchronization is no walk in the park. Advanced SaaS software has the power to make integration hassle-free while speeding up the implementation of the logistics software. Plus, the best logistics solutions offer real-time syncing between systems and teams to increase delivery efficiency and speed.

Frictionless growth

Businesses learned an important lesson during the COVID-19 pandemic: the ability to scale easily is an absolute must. Firms that were easily able to adopt new technological tools had an incredible advantage over competitors that weren’t able to power up their capabilities as quickly. 

Many companies adopted their delivery management software based on past needs—the result being that these businesses are stuck without the features and functionality that they need at present. Logistics SaaS solutions don’t present this issue: they accommodate your present business requirements while giving your room to expand when you need to. It enables you to increase the delivery volumes or the numbers of users easily as you handle higher order volumes.

At the same time, advanced SaaS logistics solutions offer more flexibility by letting you modify and customize the software's functionality, and they offer frequent updates and constantly-evolving functionality. This way, your capabilities evolve at the same rate as your needs. 

There's no doubt that logistics management software is a powerful tool for ensuring high operational efficiency. That’s why it’s so important for businesses to strongly consider choosing a cloud-based logistics SaaS solution that offers seamless integration and robust capabilities that can offer more flexibility even as you grow your operations.