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Retail Business Review | Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Last mile delivery refers to A product's journey from a warehouse to the doorstep of the end customer.
Fremont, CA: It's the last phase of the delivery process & is critical and should be well managed for fast shipping.
Rising consumer demand has led to businesses strategizing this vital step for a quick and efficient shipment. Be it a personal residence or a retail store, the final destination of the supply chain should be covered at lightning-fast speed to churn out more and more delighted customers.
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But unfortunately, the final mile also happens to be the most expensive leg of the journey from the transportation hub to its ultimate destination; thereby need for resource optimization should be the main focus area.
Steps intricated in the last mile delivery process.
Once a customer books an order online, her web browser or mobile application straightaway communicates with the retailer or eCommerce provider's server. The order is sent to a concentrated order management system that confirms stock availability and gives the customer an option to pay online. It then posts a request to the warehouse hosting the stock to send the products to the final consumer. Finally, the shipper sends an agent to pick up the customer's item from the warehouse. Here the last mile mainly initiates.
The agent loads the parcel in his vehicle and delivers it to a predestined hub. Then from the hub, an agent collects the parcel and delivers it to the customer's doorstep. All these might emerge simple, but in reality, it is not. There are several moving parts in the last mile ecosystem, and the execution quality depends greatly on internal and external factors. Therefore, businesses embrace modern logistics solutions to ensure the seamless execution of all these disparate processes.
In simpler terms, here are six key steps involved here
• The sender's placed orders are digitally recorded into the carrier's system.
• The said order reaches the transportation hub.
• The order is allotted to the delivery personnel with the relevant information (like a recommended route and recipient's locations)
• Orders are scanned for record-keeping and then loaded on the trucks.
• The item is then delivered to the planned recipient.
• The employees then record and updates the delivery condition.
Why is last-mile delivery important?
There are many grounds why it is important. Today, logistics is the only touchpoint between a customer and a brand, making the last mile extremely critical. In addition, it impacts customers' last mile experience and profitability.
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