7 Ways the Top Logistics Software Can Improve the Last Mile

Is there a difference between a traditional business and a modern one? For some, the most salient difference is the importance of the customer. Customer data and insights are more important to modern enterprises than ever before—which makes sense, considering that consumer needs have continued to change and evolve, particularly in recent years. The rapid evolution of customer demands, however, can present challenges if you’re not keeping close tabs on them.

Here's a particular point worth noting especially for traditional companies. Studies show that customer experience has overtaken product and price as the most important brand differentiator. It’s a fact that modern supply chain and logistics enterprises need to keep in mind as they plan out their supply chains and make delivery plans. 

Transparency is a must for customers today. Issues in route optimization, missed delivery schedules, incorrect deliveries, lack of options for contactless deliveries or proof of delivery, can quickly become major issues that affect your customer experience as well as your overall as your profitability since they can increase churn. In fact, DispatchTrack’s own research shows that 90% of customers want the ability to track their orders. 

To ensure a positive customer experience, supply chain and logistics companies must pay particular attention to last mile delivery. The way a company executes last mile deliveries impacts the customer experience considerably, especially when it comes to something like same-day delivery. Luckily, thanks to the continuous technological advances in last-mile delivery, the industry has been able to meet ever-evolving customer demands. 

Sure, not all last mile software solutions are created equal. But the top logistics software system can smooth out the creases, providing visibility and control over the last mile as well as boosting efficiency by streamlining your operations. 

Benefits of Top Logistics Software 

Here’s how the right solution can help you improve the last mile and delight your customers: 

1. Optimized Routes

Traffic delays, long service times, lackluster driving directions, and poor communication can all result in delivery delays. That’s why delivery optimization software that are worth their salt offer AI-powered route optimization features that can calculate and assign the most efficient routes for your deliveries. 

Route optimization can also analyze traffic, service time, driver speed, and other factors over time in order to continually improve upon delivery ETA estimates. This has a huge impact on customer service. 60% of customers have said that they wouldn’t buy the same vendor again after they had failed to deliver in-window—so clearly delivering at the right time is something that’s incredibly important to consumers!

2. Streamlined Processes

Last-mile delivery logistics systems can automate many of the repetitive and time-consuming aspects of the delivery process, thus saving you resources, time, and money. Tracking using manual methods like handwritten receipts, waybills, or notes without barcodes not only takes a lot of time but is also highly susceptible to human errors. Likewise planning routes, dispatching drivers, contacting customers, and calculating driver settlements by hand. Modern logistics software solutions have the ability to automate these systems, eliminating the slow delivery planning and verification processes that come with manual planning—not to mention cutting down on human errors. The result is that your entire team has added time to focus on more value-added tasks.  

3. Increased Delivery Flexibility 

Online shoppers often make last minute changes and requests that can be difficult to accommodate without fast, efficient processes. When someone needs a particular item the very same day, you need to be able to adjust routes in a matter of minutes without the entire plan falling apart. 

Luckily, the right software gives you the speed, visibility, and flexibility to make that happen. Simply put, when you can generate entire routes within a matter of seconds, you can much more easily accommodate last minute changes and requests that might otherwise have thrown your whole delivery schedule off track. The result is that you maintain delivery efficiency while delighting your customers. 

4. Increased Productivity and Scalability

The top logistics software prevents unnecessary idling and unplanned diversions by delivery drivers. It also helps to ensure that drivers are taking the most efficient routes to complete their deliveries. All this goes a long way to increase your fleet’s productivity.

If enterprises need to scale during peak business seasons or hours, the right logistics software also enables them to bring on board third-party drivers or delivery partners in case internal resources are inadequate to meet delivery volumes. By leveraging cloud computing capabilities and scalable SaaS architecture, the right software ensures that you can route as many trucks per day as you need to and that you can ensure connectivity and visibility with third parties.

5. True Real-Time Tracking

The right final mile delivery software enables shippers and retailers to know when and who placed the order, who will make the delivery, exactly when the order will be delivered, and much more—all at the quick glance. Likewise, customers are given full visibility into the status of their orders. Everything is at the customer’s fingertips—from the moment the order is placed to live updates and ETAs on the day of delivery. 

The result is significant transparency and an increase in customer trust. Using an advanced logistics software solution, delivery organizations can even chat with customers in order to improve delivery coordination. 

6. Enhanced Exception Management

Even with the best logistics software systems in place, delays can still occur, and sometimes there is not much you can do other than tell your customers about anticipated delays to better manage their expectations. After all, informing customers about delays proactively is preferable to having to wait for them to make irate calls to your customer service team. 

With last-mile delivery software, you can alert clients of any potential delays, resulting in better expectation management. Plus, automated, real-time delivery notifications make sure customers are informed about exact delivery times, allowing them to accept orders on time so you can increase customer satisfaction.

7. Maximized Profits

By optimizing routes, increasing fleet productivity, scaling deliveries per day, and improving customer loyalty, last mile logistics software significantly cuts down fuel consumption, reduces fleet management costs, lowers fleet management expenses, and enhances customer retention. The ultimate result? Improved profits, even in an incredibly competitive marketplace. 

With the best last mile delivery software solution, both productivity and delivery can be drastically improved. The right technology empowers shippers to achieve high levels of delivery efficiency by optimizing last mile logistics—with the end result that deliveries run more smoothly and delivery organizations can actually keep their promises.