What is Route Optimization in Grocery Last Mile Delivery
Over the past two decades, there has been a paradigm shift with the retail companies and how they operate with the delivery services. The retail sectors have moved to the eCommerce channel to preserve their business in sync with the digital platforms. So, it won't be wrong to say that the internet and technology have brought a revolutionary change in the traditional retail businesses.
eCommerce has a significant role in customers' buying behavior. A notable leap from retail shopping to eGrocery shopping, where the delivery of groceries done on the same day, has completely changed the grocery business scenario. Most of these eCommerce services utilize last mile delivery solutions to deliver customer products. Let us first understand what last mile delivery is?
What Is Last Mile Delivery?
We can define last mile delivery as the movement of goods from the production warehouse's shelf to the customer's doorstep. The term 'last mile' is coined because of its final step of the delivery process. It mostly deals with the delivery destination, a spot from where the package lastly arrives at the consumer's door. Although it is a time-consuming and costly part of product shipping, last mile logistics has gained popularity due to the burgeoning demand for its thoroughly unified retailing system. That is why last mile delivery solution providers are becoming more prominent than ever because of the rush of online orders.Last Mile Delivery in Grocery Business
There is massive growth seen in the grocery delivery market. The predicted market of eGrocery is likely to reach 84,000 million dollars by 2024 due to its fast-growing delivery services. The grocery delivery solutions run on two important factors-efficiency and time. For example, SMEs and mid-sized retail firms spend hours manually figuring out to map delivery routes for distributing the products. The manual approach increases the cost, reduces work efficiency, and eliminates transparency. The consumer cannot know where the package is and how much time will be required to reach it to the customer's doorstep.
To ensure frictionless delivery, eGrocery business requires a new approach and technology to aid smooth delivery and open communication between the delivery person and the customer. Grocery businesses can overcome such challenges using last mile delivery solutions and the last mile delivery app for grocery.
Advantages of Last Mile Delivery App in Grocery Business
Optimizing the last mile deliveries has become critically important for any delivery industry or e-commerce companies to overcome the challenges. That is where the last mile delivery app for grocery and solutions become beneficial. Here are some of the benefits last mile delivery solutions offer eCommerce businesses:- Dynamic Delivery Route Plan: There is always a problem of rerouting deliveries because of the last moment change in the delivery address. Thanks to the last mile eCommerce delivery applications for easily accommodating such changes. The last mile logistics applications contain delivery route planner for quickly and efficiently rerouting their delivery mapping using route optimization as soon as the software encounters any changes.
- Real-Time Tracking of Delivery: The last mile delivery app for grocery and its robust software allows customers to witness real-time updates about the shipment's movement and exact location. The real-time delivery tracking options in such applications allow both the customer and the store manager to trace the delivery of items with precision.
- Prioritizing and Auto-Allocating: Companies are witnessing a tremendous hike of 20%-30% in the delivery volumes, and it is increasing every year. Companies and retail businesses need to be efficient while delivering items with a faster shipment mechanism. Modern last-mile logistics applications leverage AI and ML algorithms to prioritize the scheduling of different orders depending on traffic, delivery time, delivery preference of stores, etc.
