Same Day Dispatch and Delivery: Challenges and Solutions

Same day dispatch and delivery challenges are tough but can be mastered with a detailed approach and specialized software.

Customers have more choices these days, thanks to technology. For the retail industry, this means consumers can shop anytime, anywhere, and have orders delivered right to their doorsteps. They also don't have to wait nearly as long as in the past because many retailers now offer same-day delivery.

What is Same Day Dispatch and Delivery?

Same day dispatch and delivery, as the name suggests, is when customers receive their packages on the same day they ordered them. At a glance, the same day delivery business model seems like a logistical nightmare for many companies. However, it is a service offering that attracts a bigger market. That in turn increases revenues and allows companies to charge a higher price for the service.

Same day delivery can even be integrated into a company's operations with ease, depending on how they're set up. However, expanding your geographical delivery coverage can be daunting and challenging. As such, astute business owners and executives will do very well to understand the various same day dispatch challenges they are likely to experience before offering it as a shipping option or expanding their current delivery areas.

Why Is Same Day Dispatch Difficult?

There's no denying that offering same day delivery can increase one's market share and help gain customers' loyalty. But it comes with a slate of difficulties that businesses should carefully evaluate and prepare for before moving to that delivery model. Here are some of the costs and cons of same day dispatch and delivery.

Forecasting Orders

For businesses engaged in same-day delivery, it is impossible to know ahead of time what items customers will order and want to have shipped immediately. Most businesses lack visibility into the potential orders. Small businesses may have an even harder time with same day deliveries given their small inventory and limited staff.

Fulfilling orders within the same day or in less than an hour can be quite burdensome. Hiring third parties like couriers or relying on fulfillment centers can also be costly. Enterprises will have to crunch their numbers carefully to determine if their revenues can cover the cost of same day delivery over time.

Managing Inventory

It is not unusual for stores to have an inaccurate inventory of goods. It's crucial to have an organized and updated inventory for businesses engaged in same day delivery. Customer satisfaction could be negatively affected if an order is out of stock yet appears available to the customer online.

Reliability of Drivers

Businesses need reliable workers to maintain service and customer confidence. In the case of e-commerce, having professional and dependable drivers is a must. Just like with any industry, companies must offer attractive salaries, benefits, and perks if possible to attract and maintain good employees, drivers included.

If your operation needs to use third party logistics resources to stay in sync with orders, keep in mind that having a middleman for deliveries isn't always the right solution. Many consumers prefer to deal with a single entity rather than communicate with multiple parties to receive their order.

Timely Deliveries

Customers who opt for same day dispatch expect their orders delivered to them at a particular time. After all, same day delivery is about instant gratification. And nothing is gratifying when orders arrive later than expected.

For businesses, this means having a reliable delivery service and an order tracking app that allows customers to see where their orders are in real-time. This helps ease customer worries and frees up their time during the delivery day, because they will have a very accurate ETA without having to contact the driver.

Technology Plays A Big Role

The challenges of same day delivery can intimidate enterprises. But the key to overcoming these difficulties lies within equipping their operations with the right technology stack, particularly ones that are geared towards automation and data centralization.

Investing in software will help businesses overcome the challenges of the same day delivery model. The software will allow the efficient organization of the inventory, including tracking them in real-time once they are loaded inside the delivery vehicles. For even more visibility, bar codes can be placed on the ordered goods and scanned before being loaded onto the vehicles. Doing so will mean having an updated inventory and an eye on which vehicles are carrying each package.

Likewise, automation also allows for better fleet management on the road. Managers will have visibility on where and what their drivers are doing while they're out on the road delivering orders. An app allows drivers and customers to communicate with one another to ensure proper delivery, which reduces failed deliveries or no shows.

The rising popularity of e-commerce, coupled with increasing customer preference for instant gratification—same day delivery—presents many challenges for businesses. But they can, fortunately, count on technology to overcome the difficulties posed by offering same day deliveries, if they find proven last mile logistics software that's up to the task.