Plan, procure, execute, & track transportation for every shipment across your supply chain & logistics operations
A SaaS solution to help grow your business by achieving 100% perfect order execution at high volumes
Increase vehicle capacity utilization and customer promise adherence
Grow your business with omnichannel presence and automated pickups
Consolidate shipments for hub to hub movement across land and air
Real-time customer communications and collect accurate PODs
Orchestrate logistics operations with multiple 3rd party carriers
Achieve cost effective, scalable, sustainable, and customer centric deliveries
Orchestrate all your cross-border logistics operations with ease
Improve address accuracy, ensure first-attempt delivery success, reduce costs and boost customer experience
Gain end-to-end shipment visibility, get proactive alerts, and send customers live tracking links
Grow business in a dynamic world and manage operations across First, Middle & Last mile
Delight customers by seamlessly managing store and online orders across own fleet and 3rd party
Reduce freight costs & get end to end visibility across shipments
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The global eCommerce market is currently booming. By 2026, it is estimated to reach 8.1 trillion dollars. The associated logistics operations must grow up to keep pace with this rise. To accomplish this, businesses need to reevaluate and reimagine their business strategies. Also, the end-to-end logistics operation chains need to be finetuned for speed, security, and economy.
For an optimized and streamlined experience, the entire logistics chain is broken into three major parts – First Mile, Middle Mile or Mid Mile, and Last Mile. The global First-Mile and Last-Mile delivery market, pegged at USD 493.2 million, is expected to grow with a CAGR of 13.8% till 2030. This brings into the picture an often unseen aspect of delivery operations – First Mile delivery.
Far away from the end customers’ eyes, First-Mile delivery involves the movement of finished products from sellers and manufacturers to warehouses, distribution hubs, or any other origin facility for the onward journey to destination hubs. Once the individual shipments are picked up in batches/as single items, they are sorted and bagged with multiple other shipments for transportation.
Before we dive into the details regarding the importance and the multitude of advantages, let us explore what precisely First-Mile delivery is.
First-Mile delivery or First Mile Pickup refers to the transportation of goods from the manufacturer or initial pick-up hub to the subsequent warehouse or distribution center. It is the primary stage of logistics transportation aiming towards delivery operations involving the first movement of goods after they have been manufactured.
However, the definition of the First Mile may differ across industries. First-Mile delivery means moving goods from regional distribution centers to local retail stores for a retailer. Similarly, for an exporter, it means transporting goods from the manufacturing hub to the distribution center and can involve containers and international land or sea freight. In the case of a CEP business, First-Mile delivery involves picking up parcels from a store or a hub to a designated warehouse/ distribution center.
The First-Mile delivery operations can involve multiple loading and unloading of the same parcel, with the parcel being handled by multiple drivers and having a unique order number. Though retailers and e-commerce companies prefer to have their fleet handle the logistics in the First Mile, it may become a hassle during rush hours or peak seasons. This is where third-party logistics providers enter the picture.
The individual goods from various sellers and manufacturers are referred to as Child Baggage or Child Consignments. Many such child bags are clubbed together based on destination hub or cargo type to be transported together as part of a Mother Bag. This helps optimize the shipment process by maximizing the utilization of the fleet/space/transportation trips, etc.
In addition, the mother bags have labels of their constituent bags, making the process of tracking easier for all stakeholders.
Next, we explore the key components of a First-Mile delivery solution to understand the importance of First-Mile delivery better.
This stage includes the management of incoming orders and is generally automated via installing an Order Management System. Some of the tasks carried out by the software include recording orders, allocating dedicated order numbers for tracking delivery performance, and return order management post-delivery.
Label generation is another important constituent of automated order management which comprises all the crucial details regarding the package.
Warehouse management systems come into action once the shipment has arrived at the first consolidation center/warehouse/facility to be stored and processed for the journey toward the end customer.
Mother bagging, shipment sorting, carrier or vehicle allotment, etc., are some core activities of this stage.
Businesses are deploying First-Mile logistics software to record inventory, allot inventory location in the warehouse for quick retrieval, monitor minimum inventory levels of all products to prevent stock-out, and place new orders for stock replenishment.
Transport management in First-Mile delivery involves efficiently tracking items to know when they are ready to be shipped, arranging the vehicles for the journey to the warehouse or the distribution center, and effectively storing goods via optimized inventory. A robust solution such as Shipsy’s First-Mile logistics software auto allocates the driver for each consignment and provides the best-optimized routes for the driver. Important KPIs like driver hours, performance, planned stops, actual stops, and fuel efficiency are other important features for seamless transport management.
Customer communication systems cater to multiple requirements, such as complaint gathering and redressal systems. First-Mile platforms come with automated IVR calls and chat box support with options for feedback and ratings. As a result, customers get an interactive response when raising queries. Since most of the tasks are automated, the staff support can now shift their focus to completing more critical tasks.
Now that we have discussed the components of the first mile delivery ecosystem let us move on to explore the various challenges related to the management and orchestration of the first mile.
Labeling is a complex process, especially if the seller or manufacturer is tackling it. Every company has its own unique requirements, along with the need for a name and logo for easier identification.
Owing to this difficulty, sellers often have a difficult time creating a correct label and end up using handwritten ones. This incomplete and sometimes illegible information poses a problem to courier companies, leading to delays or cancellations of delivery.
Further, in the absence of a digitized label generation and management process, it becomes hard to automate the tracking and shipment processing, leading to mistakes, delays and inaccuracies.
The lack of a unified platform capable of tracking multiple issues at hand is a big drawback for businesses. This creates difficulty in checking critical SLAs like consignment status with different logistics service providers, delivery fleet allocation, customer communications, etc.
In addition, this lack of clarity creates headaches for the logistics managers, forcing them to check manually for each detail. Every single process, such as billing, invoicing, claims management, payouts, contracts, etc., becomes extremely hard to manage.
Poor leg-to-leg visibility within First-Mile operations can severely impact the entire logistics process till the last mile. Poor visibility not only impacts the end-consumer experience but also leaves a poor impression of the logistics service on the shipper, who may be reluctant to do business in the future.
In most cases, there is minimal visibility of processes between the manufacturer and the shipper, resulting in inefficient tracking of the consignment from the initial warehouse to the hub, inept handling, and frequent en-route delays. The major reasons for this poor visibility stem from the inability to standardize the status, centralize communication and collaboration, and lack of a unified platform for multiple service provider management.
The flow of financial reconciliation is difficult across all levels of operation. Businesses have to keep an accurate track of customer payments, rider compensation, delivery charges, logistics service provider payments, and so on.
All the billings and invoices associated with each part of the First-Mile operation need to be accurate for a profitable business operation. The lack of a single platform hurts profitability on every financial transaction, causing potential costly oversights.
Further, the first mile is just the beginning of the entire logistical journey where businesses partner with multiple service providers, and lack of transparency affects the auditability and transparency of the entire ecosystem.
Sometimes, packages are held up by authorities for not having the required customer or package details or for wrong packaging. Moreover, for smooth customs clearance, proper documentation is required. This becomes difficult without a unified service window for First-Mile operations.
Similarly, at times, countries have restrictions on parcels or might require some specific documentation for such shipments. This needs to be updated dynamically, which is critical for a time-bound operational decision and destination selection. Further, not being able to have this information earlier impacts the overall delivery SLA and incurs high costs to businesses.
Next, we discuss how smart logistics orchestration and management platforms can automate the first-mile processes and make the entire journey extremely profitable and efficient.
A robust logistics management software, customizable to your needs, is an invaluable tool to achieve your business goals. Businesses can ensure all stakeholder expectations are met, from customer delivery experience to business partners gaining greater transparency of the operations.
A faster delivery experience is a crucial driver for customer loyalty and brings higher rewards for the logistics provider. A recent survey found that 65% of surveyed customers were willing to pay more for faster delivery. Both B2B and B2C delivery chains are also adapting to new quicker delivery methods to keep pace with the growing customer demands. Similarly, in the age of digitization, customers desire greater transparency for a hassle-free delivery experience. Therefore, it becomes imperative to provide them with customizable delivery options to change the order status per their requirements and communicate directly with the rider.
With an intelligent First-Mile solution, logistics companies can automate many crucial tasks, like sorting, planning, order allocation, tracking, and reporting, for an enhanced shipping experience. As a result, there is increased efficiency, cost reduction, streamlining of operations, and a positive impact on the business bottom line.
Here are some other benefits offered by smart logistics management platforms.
Smart end-to-end logistics management platforms help centralize operational management and delivery orchestration by bringing all the stakeholders together on a single platform. Businesses can collaborate and communicate with multiple service providers in real-time. They can track and record their performance over time.
The system then uses the performance data to rank and prioritize these service providers so that businesses opt for the most profitable deals every time. Further, all the information related to order management, warehouse management, and delivery processes is standardized, leaving no room for discrepancies or errors.
Businesses can see the movement of shipments in real-time and track as well as monitor whether a service provider’s behavior aligns well with the agreed contractual terms. All of this helps in reducing operational costs and increasing the overall efficiency and profitability of the system.
The solution enables on-demand pick-up as well as planned consignment pick-up at a later date and time as per customer convenience. Multiple orders can be clubbed automatically to increase productivity and decrease costs.
As all the service providers are ranked on the basis of performance delivered, the businesses get the upper hand in negotiation and ensuring operational excellence.
Smart logistics solutions, such as Shipsy, offer automated label generation to ensure the consignment shipping labels have all required data for delivery as per standardized format for correct first-time delivery.
The smart label generation can be customized easily to accommodate any unique labeling requirements of shipping companies or service providers. This not only automates the complex label generation process but also reduces the need to have an in-house engineering department for managing the technical requirements.
Smart logistics management automation platforms help businesses auto-allocate orders to the origin hub and upload multiple consignment data in an easy sheet-based format. These platforms offer multiple intelligent collaboration interfaces, such as customer portals with simple APIs, and Mobile apps for accepting orders, and generating (and printing) labels for business and retail customers.
The businesses or managers can auto-assign hub/warehouse and driver based on geolocation etc. and consolidate all the container movements and share live updates via a single dashboard.
First-Mile delivery solutions allow the real-time tracking of supply chain operations, enabling businesses to identify potential risks in transportation, such as delays, etc. As businesses can leverage smart allocation rules for order allocation to hub and drivers and ensure efficient orchestration by combining pickups & deliveries on the go, they can reduce the supply chain risks and improve the supply chain efficiency.
While the logistics automation platform for the first-mile automation is an excellent choice, it is very important to choose the technology partner wisely. To make the most of their investment, businesses must select a logistics partner who understands the business pain points and can optimize multiple processes, and overcome multiple challenges from diverse stakeholders in an efficient manner.
Shipsy’s smart logistics management software is the one-stop solution for orchestrating well-coordinated First-Mile picks without interruption. Businesses can stay ahead of business expectations throughout the journey, with features like auto-label generation and driver allocation based on geolocation.
Shipsy’s smart first mile pickup management functionalities help businesses consolidate shipment movements via a unified interface, and drive higher efficiency and profitability.
With its advanced capabilities and 6+ e-Commerce store integrations, Shipsy has helped businesses unlock:
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