Two Major Ways Proof of Delivery Solutions Help Retailers Meet Customer Expectations
Fast, efficient last-mile delivery can make the difference between satisfied customers and losing them to competitors. E-commerce growth has only fueled demand for improved delivery experiences. Proof of delivery technology offers a solution, leveraging mobile devices and automated software to accurately track orders in real time. In this article from Panasonic, POD technology is helping meet customer expectations and reduce operating costs.
Two Major Ways Proof of Delivery Solutions Help Retailers Meet Customer Expectations
With rising e-commerce sales driving the retail revolution, delivering a personalized customer experience is even more important than selling the product itself. However as companies race to speed up online sales to remain relevant, rising customer expectations are only adding fuel to the competitive fire.
Just as consumers expect a personalized and streamlined experience when they shop in-store, they expect the same level of service when they shop online – except they want it to be even more personalized and to occur at the speed of the digital world. In fact, according to Retail Touchpoints’ Benchmark Survey Report:
- 61% of consumers want faster deliveries
- 51% want real-time visibility into the status of their orders
- 65% want greater flexibility for their deliveries
So how can retailers keep up while keeping operational costs down? By embracing technology that helps improve pick-up, delivery and management processes to ultimately create a memorable delivery experience for the end consumer. Here are two ways an innovative proof of delivery solution can help you meet customer expectations and maintain the competitive edge:
Meeting Customer Demands: Real-Time Visibility into Order Tracking
From the moment a consumer clicks “confirm order” to each mile traveled between hub and spoke locations, customers expect real-time visibility into the status of their delivery. However, according to 44% of retailers, expectations around visibility into the delivery process is among the top three challenges faced in managing the customer experience.
While many companies especially suffer to meet expectations during the last mile of delivery (right before the package is delivered to the customer), companies are improving the last mile workflow by pairing mobile devices that drivers already carry with an electronic proof of delivery (POD) application. The POD solution enables customers, drivers and dispatch teams to track products in real time to provide the real-time transparency into the journey of each package that customers now expect from the point of sale.
Customers can also receive updates on the ETA of packages to help anticipate delivery time and prepare for drop-off, which is especially helpful as customers increasingly rely on last-minute shipping. Just as any sustainable relationship relies on communication, the modern retailer to consumer relationship thrives off of the digital tracking of goods through mobile devices. By deploying mobile POD solutions throughout the workforce, retailers can deliver the memorable experience customers crave, increase market share and ultimately, foster sustained revenue growth.
Protecting Your Bottom Line: Boosting Productivity to Meet Online Sales Demand
With the 19.1% increase in online sales in 2018, companies are struggling to fulfill and deliver goods efficiently without affecting their operations budgets. While many retailers still rely on manual order tracking processes, organizations are turning to mobile technology to evaluate management processes and eliminate inefficiencies throughout the supply chain. By deploying proof of delivery software, retailers can eliminate manual data entry processes and allow drivers to more accurately input loading, delivery and collection data in real-time, therefore equipping management, back office, dispatch and customer service agents with a detailed audit trail of goods and transit assets.
Organizations can then use this data to not only proactively communicate with customers and quickly react to unplanned events, but also to identify inefficiencies, expedite delivery processes and reduce operational costs. As online sales continue to rise, innovative proof of delivery solutions will be critical to helping companies prepare for the increase in production while protecting their bottom line.
As the industry delves further into the evolving retail revolution, revamping legacy technology to meet the needs of today’s consumers can seem easier said than done. Trying to adopt new technology on older operating systems and platforms can easily become a speed bump on the road to digital transformation – and a major headache for IT. But with Panasonic’s Rapid Application Development platform and consulting services, retailers no longer have to feel held back. To bring proof of delivery and warehouse visibility to the next level without disrupting workers, our team can rapidly develop a platform-agnostic application based on legacy software that works on multiple operating systems and devices. Not only can retailers seamlessly deploy proof of delivery solutions across their workforce, they can confidently meet the customer service expectations companies require to survive the continued evolution of the retail industry.
