In this article, we reveal how delivery management software can help you to win more customers, handle more orders, and make more money.
In this post, we’ll reveal how delivery management software helps your business to win over customers.
So if you want to:
Attract more customers.
Handle more orders.
Make more money.
Then, you’ll love the actionable tips in this article.
And how this tool can get you there.
Let’s start.
There are five key things customers want to receive from their delivery experience.
These are:
In this part of the article, we explore all five and show you their value in the life cycle of each delivery.
This will set the stage for later.
That’s when we’ll reveal how delivery management software for small businesses helps you achieve them.
Let’s dive in.
As a customer, you want it to be easy to have something delivered to you.
It’s the reason you request delivery in the first place.
What most businesses fail to realize is that offering a delivery service isn’t enough.
It HAS TO BE convenient to request a delivery.
That’s why convenience is at the top of our list here.
But it’s up to you to make it easy for customers to request a delivery from the very beginning.
Customers need to have the option to tell you how, when, and where they want you to deliver their purchase.
One of the biggest obstacles to this is the time of arrival.
Modern customers want to choose when their delivery will arrive.
If you provide them with the option to choose the time and date of the delivery, you’ll solve a major pain.
Enabling customers to select delivery dates and times allows them to choose the time that’s the most convenient.
Customers shouldn’t plan their day around the delivery. And this benefits you as well:
If you send a vague expected time of arrival (ETA), you run the risk of raising the number of missed orders.
The more precise the ETAs, the lower the risk of failed deliveries.
There’s less of a chance the customer won’t be at home to receive his order.
They won’t have to adjust their schedule based on the delivery, either.
And they won’t have to stay at home and wait for the order because they don’t know exactly when it will arrive.
But this also means you’ll have to prepare multiple delivery options at checkout.
Another key ingredient of a quality delivery experience.
In fact, according to delivery statistics, customers want to see at least three delivery options when checking out an item (besides 2-day standard delivery).
And that brings us to the next item on our list:
Speed is critical to the success of your delivery.
The fast is:
Customers want to get their orders as fast as possible.
In e-commerce, especially, fast fulfillment has helped giants like Amazon to rise to power.
For example, take Amazon’s same-day delivery program.
It has helped them attract more customers than any other online marketplace in the world.
The company also offers other fast delivery options like 2-hour local delivery or next-day delivery.
But knowing how to compete with Amazon delivery isn’t about beating them at their own game.
It has more to do with co-existing with them.
Still, this does require you to raise the speed of your delivery.
Luckily for you, 88% of consumers would pay for the option to receive their purchase sooner.
So, you should start offering faster fulfillment options if you want to attract more customers.
Failed or missed deliveries can be a serious hindrance to how you attract customers.
If fulfillment isn’t efficient, it can put off customers from ordering goods from you.
In fact, a survey by PwC on last-mile delivery concluded that 80% of consumers value convenience and efficiency above everything else.
And 51% would pay extra to receive this kind of home delivery experience.
That’s a lot of business your company risks losing if it isn’t efficient.
But it’s also an amazing opportunity to attract customers.
A big solution to this problem is how you support customers during delivery.
First, you must keep your word to your customers.
This means that you’ll have to make on-time delivery a priority.
If your drivers are late, it can lead to delayed, missed, or failed deliveries.
And no one wants that. Least of all your customers.
So your goal has to be ensuring customers never miss a delivery.
You’ll have to make this clear to all your team members, at the office, and in the field.
Next, you’ll have to align order priority with your customer support.
If something goes wrong, you’ll have to have a system in place that can quickly solve it without any after-effects to the customer.
To do that, you’ll have to streamline your logistics.
You should build an agile delivery operation that’s created around fast decision-making and problem-solving.
And not just for your forward logistics (deliveries to customers).
You’ll have to do it for reverse logistics and e-commerce returns, as well.
If you do these things, the cost of delivery will go down.
Prices will also go down.
This brings us to our next case in point:
When it comes to delivery, PRICE IS KING.
In fact, 70% of consumers are content with the cheapest home delivery option.
And according to another report, 95% of people place fast free delivery is their top choice.
That’s because a lot of consumers still don’t view delivery as an essential service.
(Even with the state of delivery in time of the coronavirus as it is)
So when it comes to customer interest, lower delivery fees mean larger delivery volumes.
This also makes you more competitive.
This means that even cautious customers will choose you if they’ll get good value for their money.
And despite the costs of last-mile delivery, you can still offer affordable delivery options.
The key is to optimize.
If you optimize your delivery, you can even offer more expensive options like same-day delivery.
And you can do that with delivery route management software.
(But more on that later)
For now, let’s move on to the last item on our list (and your biggest advantage):
Attention to detail is the main reason why people still prefer small businesses over commercial giants.
Personalization improves the delivery experience.
Using a delivery driver app can give your drivers access to customer information.
This can help you to provide a more personal and friendlier service.
For example, your drivers can address the customer by name and have a friendly chat with them.
So, implementing a friendly tone is another great boost to your customers’ experience.
Best of all, it’s a huge advantage over Amazon and other retail giants.
Now, let’s get into more details:
If you want to offer deliveries on-demand, delivery management software increases delivery options.
When it comes to standard delivery options (2-5 days) the software lowers delivery costs.
It’s simple - The more deliveries per route, the less it costs you.
Thanks to the delivery routes optimization, you can lower costs to a minimum.
Also, the delivery management software is very flexible.
You are able to customize deliveries and assign them by customer’s demand.
They can be based on size, type of vehicle, destination, driver requirements, and many other parameters.
According to Marketing Metrics, after the initial purchase, 27% of customers will return to a store.
If they return for a second visit, there is a 54% chance they will make another purchase.
That means you should focus on building strong customer relationships.
When it comes to delivery for e-commerce business, it means prioritizing returning customers.
Delivery management software allows you to prioritize returning customers’ orders.
Since the route planning process is automated, you have the ability to organize orders and deliveries based on their importance.
You can also plan better schedules and complete the deliveries of your most valuable customers first.
That way your existing customers will be more satisfied and loyal, which means more income for you.
Most customers want to feel, touch or see what they choose to buy.
Tracking the status of delivery of their purchase gives them reassurance.
They want the ability to see where their order is at any time, and how it moves towards them.
Delivery route management software uses geolocation and GPS to position and track each delivery agent.
Dispatchers then add deliveries to the route and schedule of each delivery agent.
Using delivery management software you can focus on specific orders.
You can isolate a delivery and create a link, which you can send to the customer.
That way, the customer is able to see exactly where his delivery is on the map and track its progress.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, fast delivery fulfillment is one of the top priorities for customers.
If you want to provide it to your customers, delivery management software is the perfect solution.
This type of software allows you to plan and manage deliveries in real-time, while drivers are already on their routes.
In less than 30 seconds you can adjust and change routes and delivery schedules since the process is automated.
You can also add new deliveries to a driver’s route and complete the order request much faster.
Plus, the routes are optimized, so the cost per delivery is lower.
Because of that, same-day delivery is more cost-effective.
Service time spent with customers and their impressions build customers’ trust.
So, it’s a strong reason why you should talk to them.
Actually, only your delivery agents get to talk to your customers.
So it’s important that drivers have enough time at the customer’s door.
But also the tools to establish a strong relationship with customers.
And if they can talk to customers before the delivery, it’s even easier to win them over.
Most e-commerce delivery systems have two connected parts: a dashboard and delivery app.
Using the dashboard, route planners and other team members can plan and schedule deliveries.
Using the delivery app allows delivery agents to access relevant delivery data and to stay in touch with teams at the office.
On the other hand, order and delivery management software can do even more for you.
It has features that your drivers need - electronic proof of delivery, access to customer data, a messaging system that allows drivers to talk to customers, and more.
It also has delivery forms, ratings, and a lot more.
How do you win over customers? You need to know your audience to give them what they want.
And to do that, you can use delivery management software to collect customer data.
You can do this two ways:
First, you can create customer profiles.
Technically, you do this when you upload tasks to the system.
It can then automatically generate profiles with the personal information of each customer.
You can then manually add new relevant information to the profile.
While all the historical data is stored as you deliver to that particular customer.
This enables you to gain insight into:
And other useful delivery information.
But you can also use the delivery software to collect feedback directly from your customers.
For example, you can let customers leave reviews and rate the quality of the delivery experience.
This can help you get a deeper understanding of your customers, which you can use to shape the delivery to their liking.
If you want to get more customers to use your delivery, you need to offer more value to them.
One way delivery software can help you with this is by enabling you to customize how you communicate with your customers.
First, you can set custom notifications to alert customers about the arrival of their order.
You can do this via email or SMS.
Then, the delivery app that the drivers use has a built-in chat.
So a delivery agent can send direct messages to customers when he’s 5 minutes away, for example.
The software also enables you to track historical data.
So you can customize each delivery based on the preferences of each customer.
At the same time, this means your drivers can cross-sell and upsell through delivery.
That means you’re not only providing a quality customer experience, but you’re also anticipating the demands of your customers.
When they receive the very best service with each drop-off, you’re sure they’ll spread the word to others.
And that’s how you can attract more customers to your brand.
One way you’ll certainly attract more customers is if you offer lower prices.
But delivery is an expensive process.
From planning multiple depot locations to fuel costs, there’s a lot of operational expenditure.
So the best way to offer better prices is to cut delivery expenses.
This is where delivery management software comes in handy.
Technically, the software is an end-to-end optimization tool.
It doesn’t just help you to optimize routes to cut fuel costs.
It allows you to find operational waste across the last-mile of delivery.
For example, at a granular level, it can help you optimize vehicle capacity.
So you can maximize the output of your fleet, even when demand exceeds your capacity.
At the same time, it helps you to reduce idle times of vehicles and drivers.
And it does this for both internal and external delivery fleets.
So if you own and operate a delivery fleet, you can rightsize it to reduce spending.
Or monitor the performance of your third-party logistics provider, so they don’t overcharge you.
But delivery management software helps you to optimize on a holistic level as well.
Because the system integrates with other technologies, you can, for example:
All of this means that the cost of delivery will be lower.
So you won’t have to transfer it to the customer.
And that allows you to set the lowest possible price on the items you sell, making you more competitive than other brands in your industry.
Giving your customers choice means you free them from doubts that they may have with standard delivery.
But, bear in mind that too many offers may confuse your buyers.
You should consider the options that customers usually need, like:
Delivery management software can help to add these delivery options to your offer.
The software improves the speed and efficiency of your delivery.
And because everything is automated, planning and management are also faster and more efficient.
So, if you, for example, want to offer same-day delivery, you can.
Because the software enables you to plan deliveries as soon as a request arrives.
And since everything is simultaneously optimized, costs also go down.
So you’ll be able to provide more affordable delivery options, without having to adjust the price of your products to support it.
As we’ve mentioned, there will always be those customers who need your products, but can’t afford them.
In such cases, there are different ways of solving this problem.
Implementing different pricing models is one of the simple ways to acquire new customers quickly.
You should explore pricing models, such as:
Then, find the ones that suit you best.
And using delivery management software will enable you to support those prices.
Because it optimizes every part of your operation, you’ll be able to lower operational expenditure and cost per delivery.
And when the cost of fulfillment is lower, the delivery fee doesn’t have to support it.
So you can even afford to offer free delivery to your customers.
A lot of businesses don’t succeed in taking advantage of the opportunities that online selling brings.
Brick-and-mortar businesses could use these opportunities to sell their associated products online.
Let’s say, you own a coffee shop.
And typically, you sell particular blends of coffee from your store.
Using the internet you can sell them to a much wider audience.
And if you use multiple channels (i.e. social media, web store, Shopify platform), you make it more convenient for more people to order more of your products regardless of where they do it.
But this means you’ll have orders coming in from multiple channels.
That’s where delivery management software comes in:
It can integrate with any order management system.
Thanks to API integration, all orders can automatically get uploaded onto the delivery platform.
And that means wherever your customers buy products from you, you’ll be able to plan, schedule, and dispatch all deliveries from one centralized location.
Optimization of resource distribution.
Getting ahead of competitors.
Providing value to customers.
Reaching a target market.
All of this depends on your ability to leverage consumer data.
Your company needs a strategy so you can collect, analyze, and use big data.
The delivery management software market offers the solution.
Automation with SaaS delivery management software offers a convenient platform where you can collect and manage relevant data.
The system operates on the cloud.
Adopting a cloud-first approach to delivery logistics means you can store and access vast amounts of data.
This includes both customer data and information about the efficiency of your delivery.
So you can use the software to improve the quality of the customer service.
But also measure key metrics in delivery logistics.
And that means you can win over more customers while cutting costs and streamlining operations.
Processing data and using it for your delivery helps you to create a personalized customer experience.
You can personalize notifications, and share customer information with drivers.
Thanks to delivery management software, you can learn more about customer preferences and customize deliveries to fit each individual.
For example, you can assign a driver to the customer that rated him with five stars.
You can also learn the location where the customer prefers the order to be delivered (office or home address, for example).
Are you ready to start using software to win over more customers?
We can help you with that.
This is a complete guide to last-mile delivery. Learn: What is last-mile delivery? How it works? How to improve your last-mile operations? +more
Learn how to use last-mile delivery to build brand awareness, and create a delivery experience that generates brand value and recognition.
Today, we take a look at trust. And how you can use your delivery to build trust with your customers.
Be the first to know when new articles are released. eLogii has a market-leading blog and resources centre designed specifically to help business across countless distribution and field-services sub sectors worldwide to succeed with actionable content and tips.
