Customer satisfaction is a critical pillar of business success. Not surprisingly, 75% of consumers claim that they wouldn’t mind buying and paying more for products from a company offering first-rate customer support.
While there are multiple ways to up customer experiences, none beats tracking when it comes to last-mile delivery. This process ensures that the final leg of the product delivery process is reliable, transparent, and cost-effective.
Herein, experts at Elite EXTRA highlight the benefits of last-mile delivery tracking. Discover the delivery challenges you can solve with the tracking, and ways it would increase your customer satisfaction scores.
The Importance of Advanced Tracking Solutions
Some of the world’s renowned brands, like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart have one thing in common in terms of logistics — they use advanced tracking solutions to follow up on every step of the product delivery process.
The dedicated trucking ensures that customers receive their packages on the promised date every time they make an order. Like the mentioned brands, your business can take advantage of advanced tracking solutions to reap the following benefits:
1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Last-mile delivery tracking unlocks a new level of operational efficiency for businesses. By having access to the coordinates of drivers and specific orders in real time, dispatchers are enabled to make data-driven decisions. Picture this scenario: All your drivers are out on routes, and you suddenly receive an urgent order. What do you do? With last-mile delivery tracking, your dispatcher can promptly identify which driver is best equipped to take the new delivery and fulfill it in the quickest time possible.
Not only does it help the dispatcher make smart decisions in a pinch, last-mile delivery tracking also gives your team access to data to use for future improvements and strategy. For example, your tracking data might show your drivers are frequently straying from the suggested route. With access to this information, you can present the data to your team to discuss and implement changes.
As you can see, last-mile delivery tracking opens insights for operational efficiency in the past, present, and future of your company.
2. Improved Communication
Proper communication is paramount in logistics. It ensures that dispatchers, drivers, and even customers are on the same page regarding inventory levels, order statuses, delivery schedules, and potential delays.
Premium tracking solutions are designed to simplify communication between your company, customers, and drivers. by providing updates through a centralized platform, all relevant parties can access up-to-date information on orders.
For instance, the tracking solutions provide customers with updates regarding their order status, arrival times, and possible delays. Likewise, the technology furnishes delivery drivers with up-to-date information on route changes and unexpected eventualities.
3. Reduced Logistics Costs
Managing the entire cycle of logistics is not cheap. On average, your business can spend 25% to 45% of its budget on various expenses like fleet management, fuel, vehicle maintenance, and more.
While the mentioned expenses are unavoidable, an advanced last-mile delivery tracking solution can help you lower them. For instance, last-mile delivery tracking enables your dispatchers to optimize route planning with efficiency. This route optimization reduces fuel consumption and the wear and tear associated with longer mileage. Moreover, a good last-mile delivery software reduces logistic expenses by reducing labor costs and streamlining decision-making.
4. Preventing Asset Loss
Asset loss is a common occurrence in the supply chain. From cargo tampering, delivery errors, and misplaced packages to internal theft, your company will have to deal with losses several times in its lifespan.
Fortunately, with an excellent last-mile delivery tracking solution, you can keep the losses low. The solution enables dispatchers to monitor shipments at every stage of the delivery process, from the warehouse to the customer’s doorstep.
With real-time monitoring, your team will be able to identify irregularities or suspicious activities. Not only can it help identify potential danger, it can also provide you with access to the last known whereabouts of an order if it does go missing. With greater insights from last-mile delivery tracking, your team can better protect customers’ orders.
5. Elevated Competitive Advantage
An incredible 90% of customers want to track their orders, but still many companies don’t offer this capability. Want to get ahead of competitors? Give the customers what they want!
Adding last-mile delivery tracking to your operations is a sure way to boost customer satisfaction and get a leg up on competitors.
Understanding the Challenges You Can Solve With Last-Mile Delivery Tracking
The final leg of delivery presents unique challenges that can severely impact customer satisfaction. A seemingly minor delay can frustrate customers, causing them to stop doing business with you—an alarming 51% of customers who leave due to poor service never return.
Investing in a robust last-mile delivery tracking system can alleviate many of these challenges, improving the customer experience and reducing operational inefficiencies. Here’s how last-mile delivery tracking addresses key issues:
1. Package Theft
Around 1 in 10 people experience package theft annually, often due to poor coordination between delivery teams and customers. When delivery drivers leave packages unattended, they become easy targets for theft.
With reliable last-mile delivery tracking, customers receive real-time updates on their package’s location, allowing them to plan for its arrival. This minimizes the risk of unattended packages being stolen. Additionally, the visibility provided by tracking systems serves as a deterrent against dishonest delivery personnel.
2. Delivery Delays
Despite advancements in logistics, delivery delays remain common. Traffic, inaccurate addresses, and miscommunication all contribute to late deliveries, which negatively affect customer satisfaction.
A robust tracking system helps improve delivery times by providing real-time route optimization, enabling drivers to avoid traffic or other obstacles. It also streamlines communication between the dispatch team and customers, reducing errors and ensuring timely deliveries.
3. Excessive Logistics Costs
Poor route planning, manual tracking, and inefficient inventory management can significantly inflate logistics costs. Last-mile delivery tracking systems help reduce these costs by optimizing routes, monitoring fuel consumption, and reducing idle time.
Furthermore, delivery tracking can monitor driver behavior, reducing liabilities and ensuring compliance with safety regulations. By shortening delivery times, companies can complete more deliveries with fewer resources, maximizing efficiency and reducing labor costs.
4. High Environmental Impact
Logistics operations, particularly transportation, contribute heavily to environmental degradation, accounting for nearly 90% of a company’s environmental footprint. Neglecting sustainability can lead to penalties and harm your brand’s reputation.
Last-mile delivery tracking helps minimize environmental impact by optimizing routes, reducing unnecessary driving and idling, and ultimately lowering carbon emissions. This not only enhances sustainability efforts but also helps meet compliance standards.
5. Complicated Returns Process
With approximately 30% of online purchases being returned, an efficient returns process is essential. The cost of managing returns can be significant, involving customer communication and product retrieval.
A robust last-mile delivery tracking system simplifies the returns process, offering customers a platform to initiate returns and track their status in real-time. For businesses, it optimizes return route planning, cutting down transportation and administrative costs, and ensuring seamless coordination.
How Last Mile Delivery Tracking Improves Customer Satisfaction
A good last-mile delivery tracking system doesn’t just streamline logistics—it enhances customer satisfaction by providing transparency and convenience. At its core, last-mile delivery tracking allows customers to monitor their deliveries in real-time, reducing the anxiety that often accompanies delayed or uncertain deliveries. Here are some additional ways it enhances the customer experience:
1. Streamlined Communication
Effective communication is vital during the delivery process. Last-mile tracking systems provide customers with real-time updates about their delivery status, expected arrival times, and potential delays. This keeps customers informed and reduces anxiety over missed or delayed deliveries. It also allows customers to provide specific delivery instructions, further enhancing the overall experience.
2. Convenient Pickup Scheduling
Delivery tracking systems also offer customers the flexibility to schedule deliveries at their convenience. They can adjust their schedules based on real-time delivery updates, ensuring they don’t miss their packages or have to disrupt their daily routines. This added convenience fosters long-term customer loyalty.
3. Flexible Return Initiation
The returns process can be cumbersome, but last-mile tracking systems simplify it by allowing customers to initiate returns online without the hassle of paperwork or customer service calls. With real-time return tracking, customers can follow the process from initiation to completion, ensuring a smoother, more satisfying experience.
4. On-Time Deliveries
Timely deliveries are a top priority for most customers, and last-mile tracking systems significantly reduce delivery delays. By providing drivers with real-time traffic updates and route optimizations, these systems ensure that deliveries are completed as efficiently as possible. Even in the event of unavoidable delays, notifying customers ahead of time demonstrates transparency and respect for their time.
5. Reduced Shipping Costs
Consumers are becoming increasingly price-conscious, often looking for companies that offer competitive shipping rates. By improving route efficiency and reducing fuel consumption, last-mile delivery tracking helps businesses cut shipping costs. These savings can be passed on to customers in the form of lower shipping fees, giving your company a competitive edge.
Streamline Last-Mile Delivery Tracking With Elite EXTRA Software Suite
Elite EXTRA is a comprehensive last-mile delivery tracking solution designed to optimize every aspect of your logistics operations. Our platform offers tools for routing and dispatching, real-time driver tracking, and efficient returns management, all customizable to fit your unique business needs.
With our software, you can enhance customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs, and streamline your entire delivery process. Ready to take your last-mile delivery tracking to the next level? Request a demo today to experience Elite EXTRA in action.
Sources
https://www.zendesk.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1010/top-6-reasons-new-businesses-fail.aspx
https://www.zonkafeedback.com /blog/customer-satisfaction-stats
https://worldmetrics.org/ecommerce-return-statistics
https://www.meteorspace.com /2022/08/25/statistics-that-prove-how-your-delivery-speed-impacts-your-business
