Last Mile Logistics post-COVID
By: Navata Scs
Tags: Last Mile Delivery, Supply Chain

The Covid 19 is going down the history of mankind. It has changed our lives drastically — from the way we live, work, shop, and even how interact with each other as a species.

Like all other industries, the pandemic has spurred a radical change in the supply chain industry as well. And many of these changes are here to stay!

In this article, we look at how the pandemic is transforming last-mile logistics.

The E-Commerce Boom

Ecommerce has already seen a steady incline in the past 2–3 years. The occurrence of Coronajust exponentially sored up the demand, especially for the eCommerce of groceries.

A Bain & Company-PRICE survey of 3000 households across income groups and geographies conducted between April and June, revealed about 13% of respondents buying online for the first time, while about 40% buying more online.

While people will definitely start going to actual stores post-COVID, the frequency and the footfall in these stores are going to be less compared to the pre-covid numbers.

COVID has made people (even the aged population) accustomed to the convenience of online buying.

Thus, e-commerce will continue to rise even post-pandemic and will increase the demand for fast and efficient last logistics. During the pandemic, people were understanding of the reduction in capacity and long delivery times. But this won’t be the case post-COVID. On-time deliveries will become crucial for customer satisfaction.

Health and Safety

With COVID, came the practices of contact-less delivery and sanitation of warehouses, packages, and surfaces. The concern for safety is the highest at the last mile level, where the package is delivered to the customer.

Even when the pandemic ends, it is going to take some time until people become comfortable with packages handed directly to them.

Thus, with the wearing of gloves and doing contactless delivery also came the practice of uploading pictures or sending a message once the package is delivered.

This increases transparency, thus ensuring greater customer satisfaction, and is likely to continue even post COVID.

Although the concept of ‘appointment delivery’ has been in this industry for some time now, the trend has suddenly reappeared. For safety concerns, customers are increasingly scheduling the delivery of expensive products.

Scale-up appointment-based delivery with Navata SCS.

AI-based Route Optimization

Delivery routes are getting more and more complex with the increasing number and spread of delivery locations.

It’s thus high time that last-mile delivery routes be optimized with the help of machine learning-based algorithms.

We at Navata have partnered with Locus logistics and planning software, to provide SCS local service for efficient and reliable last-mile delivery.

A rising disruption

Countries like the USA are seeing a new ‘Uber for Logistics’ like the app. These apps basically match 3PL (third party logistics) companies and drivers. Logistics companies can expand their delivery capacity by hiring local drivers for one-off projects.

Delivery Drones?

Yes, delivery drones have been making the buzz for a while. But its adoption rate might increase in the coming year, due to the e-commerce boom. Drones maximize capacity without adding strain to the driver shortage. Robotic deliveries are expected to be faster and less expensive than traditional delivery, especially for the last mile in rural and suburban areas. In India, you still need an approved license to drive a drone.

Apart from drones, autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) and pavement drones (see pictures) could also be the future of delivery automation.

Zooming out to the supply chain as a whole, this rise of eCommerce also makes ‘warehouse automation’ the need of the hour. Automation can increase warehouse space, reduce labor costs, facilitate warehouse transparency, and faster delivery of goods.

This also brings rising demand for delivery in tier 2, 3 & 4 cities. You can either expand your warehouse cover or outsource this need to 3PL (third-party logistics) companies. Navata has 700+ branches in just 10 states and serves every pin code in the south and west.

Cities also need to gear up for increased trucks on the road. Authorities need to enforce infrastructure changes like truck lanes, real-time traffic lights, and delivery parking zones.

Are these changes for the good or bad?

Definitely for the good I would say. In retrospect, COVID19 has just paved the way for a faster future. It has paved the way for more efficient last-mile logistics.

Combining decades of experience and ecosystem network, Navata SCS provides customized supply chain solutions for your business including AI optimized last-mile logistics, 3PL, forward, and reverse logistics services. Click here to get in touch.