Your Guide to Choosing the Best Logistics Software in Turkey

The eCommerce market in Turkey has been gradually growing over the years and is expected to reach $51.8 billion by 2027, primarily driven by the increase in online purchases and Turkey’s strategic geographical location that connects two major continents of Europe and Asia.

All these factors, along with the increasing investments by the government for expanding the roads, railways, airports, and seaports, Middle Corridor initiative are fueling the growth of the freight and logistics sector in Turkey, which is expected to register a CAGR of 8% between 2022-2027.

While the warehouse infrastructure is being updated and technologies like WMS are being adopted, most businesses still rely on obsolete logistics management solutions. Because of this, dynamic planning or changing the route during the journey becomes impossible, which leads to delayed deliveries and high logistics costs, among other issues.

This explains why businesses need smart logistics software in Turkey. With such solutions at their disposal, businesses can achieve better operational efficiencies, ensure timely deliveries and even save fuel, reducing overall logistics costs.

Below, we discuss different challenges of the logistics industry and how reliable logistics software in Turkey can help businesses seamlessly tackle those challenges and maximize growth.

Logistics Software in Turkey: Current Landscape

The logistics and transportation industry in Turkey is growing at a pretty significant rate. So much so that it accounts for around 12-13% of the country’s total GDP. This is happening because of improving trade relations with the European community and with the rest of the world, indicating further growth of the logistics sector in Turkey.

As a result, international service providers from Germany and other countries are expanding their operations in Turkey, while Turkish providers are expanding into central Europe. And as the government is investing quite aggressively in improving road infrastructure development and border clearance, the logistics industry will flourish further in the years to come. 

However, while the logistics and transportation industry is growing, there are some gaps that need to be bridged. For instance, businesses have to reroute several times because of wars in neighboring countries and political instability that leads to missed SLAs, as businesses lack modern logistics software in Turkey. And such uncertainties add to the transaction costs, because of which businesses lose several opportunities.

Let’s now talk about some key challenges in logistics management that prevent businesses from growing.

Key Challenges in Logistics Management in Turkey

Higher Operational Costs

Because of the lack of automated logistics software in Turkey, organizations have to rely on manual elements for most of their tasks, such as route planning and documentation, leading to operational inefficiencies. Also, businesses don’t have visibility over all modes of transport (rail, road, sea, and air), creating a disconnect that again causes operational inefficiencies. And these operational inefficiencies further lead to high operational costs, which, eventually, the customers have to bear.

However, such operational inefficiencies can be effectively dealt with if businesses opt for logistics software in Turkey that offers complete visibility of all logistics operations and helps automate different tasks.

Route Planning and Optimization

Routing and scheduling of trucks are quite essential for delivering the shipments on time while saving fuel and maximizing vehicle utilization. However, due to the lack of reliable systems for route planning and optimization, they’re unable to plan routes for their shipments effectively or dynamically. For instance, if a route is chosen from source to destination, it cannot be changed in case there’s a roadblock or any other issue hindering the path.

With smart logistics software in Turkey, businesses can dynamically plan routes for the vehicles, choose the route based on the vehicle type, distance, and shipment type, and even reroute the vehicle if needed. This way, businesses can minimize delays, save fuel, and utilize assets effectively.

3PL Management

While 3rd party logistics services help small and mid-sized businesses meet logistics demands without having to invest in infrastructure, it requires an extreme level of information sharing, collaboration, and transparency, which is absent in the current logistics management space. Because of this, businesses don’t have complete control over the shipments and have to experience additional costs due to unpredictable events.

Sub-Par Customer Experience

Another challenge in Turkish logistics management is the below-average customer experience. Because of the lack of modern logistics software in Turkey, businesses are often unable to deliver shipments on time. Also, customers cannot track the status of their shipments which leads to a sub-par customer experience. This calls for a reliable solution that allows businesses to ensure timely deliveries, greater SLA adherence, and tracking details to the customers so they can always check where their product is.

Inability to Reach a Wider Audience

With the improving trade relations and growing logistics sector in Turkey, logistics businesses are finding it hard to manage the increased workload, primarily because of the lack of a modern solution. And this is prohibiting them from expanding their operations and reaching a wider audience. 

Businesses need to opt for smart logistics software in Turkey that helps seamlessly manage the workload and allows businesses to facilitate the requirements of a wider audience.

Poor Inventory Management

Inventory is a crucial aspect for every business in the logistics industry. Because only if businesses understand and control their inventory can they meet customer demands. Unfortunately, businesses in Turkey lack real-time visibility into their inventory which impacts sales and even customer satisfaction because of long delays. 

However, if businesses integrate logistics software in Turkey that offers 360-degree visibility into the available inventory and helps connect stores and warehouses at different locations, inventory management can be made easy.

ETA & SLA Breaches

Meeting SLAs and delivering items by or before ETA is what gives logistics businesses a competitive advantage and ensures a good customer experience. However, lack of visibility over the logistics operations, poor inventory management, and manual route planning often leads to ETA and SLA breachers pulling businesses downwards.

To deal with this, businesses need integrated end-to-end logistics software in Turkey that offers them complete visibility of all operations and automated route optimization.

Why Is AI-Powered End-to-End Logistics Automation the Best Option

AI and ML-Powered Route Planning

With end-to-end logistics software in Turkey that comes with AI and ML-powered route planning, businesses can effectively plan the best possible routes for the shipments. Such software solutions allow businesses to enter different constraints such as vehicle type, capacity, shipment type, and distance to find the most optimized route. This way, the shipment reaches the destination in the shortest possible time by spending the least amount of fuel, ensuring timely deliveries and lower logistics costs.

Dynamic Route Optimization

Several businesses in Turkey rely on manual route optimization, which proves to be highly inefficient, especially in the case of unexpected events. However, logistics software in Turkey with dynamic route optimization saves the day.

Such solutions enable businesses to reroute automatically if a roadblock or any other unexpected event comes up. The new route and details are displayed in front of the driver instantly, which would take a lot of time if done manually. This way, businesses can always ensure timely deliveries or can minimize SLA breaches.

3PL Management

While 3rd party logistics offer numerous benefits, because of a lack of operational control, poor visibility over their shipments, and no real-time updates, the benefits actually become drawbacks, and businesses have to suffer from SLA breaches and high logistics costs.

To make the most of 3PL, businesses need to opt for smart end-to-end- logistics software in Turkey that offer seamless 3PL Management. Such tools allow businesses to get extensive control over operations, real-time visibility, easy data analytics, and reporting, and send real-time updates to customers.

End-to-End Logistics Management

AI-powered end-to-end logistics management software in Turkey allows businesses to automate and streamline everything from first-mile, middle-mile, and last-mile operations, along with automated rider and order management, smart route optimization, and even tracking all the processes. 

This way, everything from placing the order to delivering it to the customers can be managed efficiently by the logistics software, helping businesses save significant time and cost and ensure timely deliveries.

Digitization and Automation

Another reason why AI-powered logistics solutions are the best is because of their ability to digitize and automate redundant processes that rely on manual elements. For instance, the documentation required during border clearance is handled by manual labor. And often, such documentation gets lost and is incomplete, delaying the border clearance process and also the delivery. 

However, smart logistics management software allows businesses to digitize their documentation process. This way, businesses can manage their documentation digitally and update the same dynamically if the need is, ensuring a seamless border clearance process. 

In addition to document digitization, smart logistics software help businesses automate back-office tasks such as data entry, invoicing, and reconciliation, which saves time and improves accuracy. All in all, with a smart solution, businesses can reduce reliance on manual elements and achieve more.

Carbon Emissions Tracker

Almost every country is taking measures to make the logistics industry more environmentally sustainable by reducing carbon emissions. However, that isn’t possible if businesses don’t know the sources that cause the highest emission of greenhouse gases.

Smart logistics management software that comes with a carbon emission tracker can help. Using a carbon emission tracker, logistics companies can identify which source is causing the highest emission and can devise a plan to minimize the same. This way, companies can become more environmentally sustainable.

Real-Time Tracking and Monitoring

Turkey’s integrated end-to-end logistics software usually comes with real-time tracking and monitoring. Using these functionalities, every stakeholder gets a 360-degree view of the shipments, their location, delivery status, and more. Businesses can get notified of any problems on the route, such as traffic congestion and accidents, and take appropriate action immediately to ensure a seamless flow of shipments. 

Moreover, the customers can get real-time updates informing them of the status of their orders, ETA, the reason for the delay, if any, and updated ETA, which improves customer satisfaction and offers a competitive edge.

Dynamic ETAs

Due to unpredictable events, logistics partners are often unable to deliver shipments on or before the estimated time of arrival, leaving the customer stuck with the old ETA. And this leads to poor customer experience. 

However, with smart logistics software, businesses can have complete visibility over the logistics operations, minimize last-mile errors, and can dynamically update the ETAs. This way, customers will always know where their shipment is and when it’ll arrive.

PoD and NDR Management for Trapping Inefficiencies and Enhancing CX

Proof of delivery is quite crucial for logistics businesses as it helps identify dubious customers who make false claims of missed deliveries even when the shipment is delivered. Also, a non-delivery report helps businesses determine whether the delivery was attempted or not and ensure that the product is safely delivered to the consumer.

Using smart logistics software in Turkey, businesses can manage PoD by collecting signatures or images and NDR by consolidating common reasons for non-delivery and finding the actual cause.

Shipsy: How Custom SaaS Can Help Overcome the Challenges and Unlock Growth

Shipsy is a custom SaaS end-to-end logistics management platform that helps businesses seamlessly manage all their logistics operations.

Using Shipsy’s logistics management platform, businesses can dynamically plan and optimize routes to ensure seamless movement of shipments and timely deliveries while maximizing vehicle utilization and reducing costs.

With Shipsy, logistics providers can automate all the processes from document management, invoicing, and driver or vehicle allocation to sending real-time updates. Also, businesses can manage all logistics operations from a single dashboard minimizing the risk of any inefficiencies or cost bleeds.

In addition, Shipsy’s logistics software solutions help track and monitor their operations in real-time and measure carbon emissions to minimize the damage in case of unprecedented events and to improve sustainability, respectively.

Moreover, businesses can deal with dubious customers with proof of delivery and reattempt delivery in case the item isn’t delivered with the help of smart NDR management routines.

Along with the aforementioned benefits, here’s what logistics businesses can achieve with Shipsy:

• 12% reduction in freight cost 
• 64% increase in positive customer experience
• 34% reduction in incidental expenses
• 14% decrease in last-mile delivery costs
• 32% increase in mid-mile vehicle utilization
• 37% decrease in ETA SLA breaches

To learn more about Shipsy’s smart logistics management offerings and how we can help you achieve these results, book a customized demo now!