Delivering on Four Key Customer Expectations: What Post & Parcel Service Providers Should Know

Customers’ delivery-related expectations and preferences have changed dramatically over the past few years. Those who used to happily wait for days to get their order delivered now want their order on the same or the next day. Besides, they also want complete visibility along with real-time delivery alerts on their order. Apart from this, customers also expect a brand to understand their delivery preferences.

For post and parcel service providers, it is important to keep a tab on these expectations to deliver a superior customer experience and ensure long-term success. According to Salesforce, 80% of customers believe customer experience is a key differentiator when choosing a brand. Another report states that 64% of customers are likely to recommend a brand that offers amazing delivery experiences.

It simply means that focusing on improving customer experience is no longer a choice for logistics service providers. And to ensure delivering an excellent customer experience and streamline delivery processes, most post and parcel companies are implementing automation. Automation not only accelerates deliveries but also empowers stakeholders to have 360-degree visibility on consignments. Let’s dig deeper into the key customer expectations and how last delivery management platforms can empower courier companies to meet the same: 

Same-Day/Next-Day Deliveries

A decade ago, it was quite normal for customers to wait for three to five days to get their order delivered. But modern customers want their order on the same or the next day. One way post and parcel service providers can meet these expectations is by investing in additional resources. However, it will directly impact the overall delivery costs.

Another option is to implement tech-powered solutions that expedite the delivery process by automating delivery operations such as order allocation, order clubbing, route optimization, and more.

Being Heard and Understood

Customers expect businesses to provide an option to share their delivery feedback and take immediate action on the same. Moreover, they also want businesses to understand their shopping behavior and needs. However, with conventional delivery management models, it is quite challenging to gather and look into each customer’s feedback.

Advanced delivery management platforms offer the option for customer feedback collection. Both the post and parcel service provider and the retailer/eCommerce company can check the feedback and take action. Moreover, such solutions also have excellent capabilities to make the most of artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide insights to help understand customers’ requirements and needs.

Control Over The Delivery Process

Today’s customers want complete control over the delivery process. They want to know where their order is. Post and parcel service providers following traditional delivery management practices find it difficult to know the real-time status of each consignment. However, by implementing advanced last mile delivery management solutions, logistics services providers can get updated information on each consignment along with delivery milestones alerts. Such solutions automatically send a tracking link via SMS/Email/WhatsApp to all stakeholders.

Multiple Delivery Options

The modern customer wants everything at their convenience. Apart from free and fast delivery, they also want a brand to provide them with multiple delivery choices, such as curbside pickup, BOPIS (buy online pick in-store), and home delivery. Besides, they also want to choose their preferred delivery time slot.

With an AI-powered last mile delivery management solution, courier companies can meet these expectations and seamlessly manage and monitor deliveries across various channels. The solution also empowers post and parcel providers to deliver each consignment within the given time window.  

Delivering on major customer expectations is important to build a positive brand image and deliver a superior customer experience. Post and parcel service providers can make this possible by relying on AI-powered last mile delivery solutions. Such solutions facilitate:

• Auto order allocation to automatically allocate an order to a suitable vehicle and rider considering multiple constraints such as order and vehicle type, delivery location, delivery time window, and more.
• Order clubbing to club new orders and return pickups with already-planned deliveries.
• Real-time tracking to allow stakeholders to keep track of orders in real time. 
• Automated route planning to optimize delivery routes based on various parameters.
• Data analytics offer useful insights such as the number of failed/missed/successful deliveries and more to make data-driven decisions. 
• Unified dashboard to manage deliveries and communicate with stakeholders.

Apart from these features, last mile delivery management solutions also offer customer feedback collection, automated NDR management, arresting fake delivery attempts, and automated returns management to empower courier providers to meet customer expectations and improve customer experience.