Leveraging Intelligent Logistics Automation to Drive Delightful Digital Customer Experiences

The sweet promises of same-day deliveries, next-day deliveries, and flexible delivery scheduling are transforming the global eCommerce and online retail landscape into an impressive market opportunity. As per the Global Consumer Insights Survey 2023, 43% of consumers plan on increasing their online shopping activities over the next six months. The projected number of online stores is up to 24 million in 2023. Also, Statista projects global online retail sales to surpass USD 7 TN by 2025, amounting to nearly 1/4th of total global retail sales.

However, armed with real-time tracking capabilities and driven by ultimate convenience, the delivery-related expectations of digitally-empowered customers are evolving at a breakneck pace. 10-minute deliveries are quickly becoming a norm, and the customer’s demand for delivery quality, speed, and convenience has risen drastically. Studies reveal that 69% of customers expect deliveries as efficient as Amazon, and 76% of customers expect businesses to entertain their unique delivery needs and expectations. Further, bad digital experiences result in an 8% loss in revenue.

So, how can businesses overcome these operational challenges and deliver across the end customer expectations? Below, we share awesome ways smart logistics automation paves the way for powerful and delightful digital CX.

#1 – Flexible Delivery Scheduling

As much as 31% of global customers find inconvenient delivery options as one of the most off-putting things about deliveries. They actively seek advanced and flexible delivery scheduling or slot booking options. However, ensuring this in a manually-managed delivery ecosystem is impossible, especially in cases where orders range in thousands. 

Intelligent logistics automation platforms, on the other hand, come with in-built AI algorithms and smart functionalities that enable businesses to offer slotted deliveries, delivery re-scheduling, etc. Hence, any last-minute changes in delivery requirements can be accommodated with ease without compromising the CX and overall delivery efficiency.

#2 – Ability to Add Real-Time Delivery Instructions

Many times customers might need to add some delivery instructions after the driver has picked up the order and is en route to the delivery location. Some common examples include – real-time chat/messaging between rider and customer, pinning location for exact delivery routing, leaving the order at the door, do not ring the bell, or leave the order with the neighbor. Legacy delivery management solutions don’t offer these dynamic capabilities and can affect delivery efficiency and customer experience alike. 

Now, smart logistics automation solutions empower businesses with advanced functionalities, which allow end customers to add special delivery instructions in real time. The customers can share their actual contact numbers, geo-coordinates for delivery locations, and more, which elevates the overall customer experience.

#3 – Real-Time Order Tracking and Updates

Stats reveal that 83% of customers find proactive order status reporting as one of the most influential factors for making a purchase, and 54% of them find clear delivery terms and conditions to be a major purchase driver. Traditionally, offering these capabilities to the customers was not possible as the legacy systems don’t come with such advanced features.

Intelligent logistics automation solutions not only offer real-time updates for shipment status, but they also shoot automated alerts for rider deviations from system-suggested routes. The solutions can also be configured to send automated alerts/updates to relevant stakeholders, such as riders, managers, and customers, about shipment ETAs and status updates via multiple channels, such as SMS/chat/Emails, etc. The live tracking link is shared for quick deliveries, which keeps the customers informed about the real-time driver/order movements and boosts the digital CX.

#4 – Higher Delivery Accuracy

The inability to manage the orders, carriers, and delivery partners in a consolidated manner can affect delivery accuracy. Businesses are unable to detect issues such as wrongly routed shipments, damaged items, package loss/accidental thefts, etc., until they proactively seek this information. This leads to unnecessary delays and degradation of customer experience because of SLA breaches and returns. The effects can be worse in situations when the order is prepaid or is coming from some other country. 

Intelligent logistics management solutions come with smart in-built routines for barcode-based consignment checks at multiple stages and facilitate easier returns, re-routing, etc. Damaged goods detected at a stage are not shipped to the customer and are marked for return/disposal based on the configurable parameters that can be set by businesses themselves.

Further, the smart delivery management solutions like Shipsy facilitates unified management via the centralized dashboard, which ensures consolidated management of multiple stakeholders and all operations. Businesses are able to streamline collaboration and customer communication and can get actionable insights from operations data for strategic business decision-making. Calculated delivery slots and real-time customer-rider communication to reduce time spent at the receiver address by 35%. Improved delivery accuracy helps reduce non-delivery and RTO costs by 12%, and real-time driver activity monitoring and reporting improve SLA adherence. Businesses can get intelligent and intuitive app-based Proof-of-Delivery (PoD) for improved CX and ensure smart NDR management via delivery failure validation with customer feedback.