The future has been defined by Covid-19, accelerating transformation in the industry, enabling positive developments and propelling the delivery market forward at pace. The industry has reacted, and growth is here to stay, innovation continues to drive change. As customers change their habits, and volume growth accelerates, the market is competing to react to, and meet these demands.
It’s time to focus on the opportunities that change has created – building the right capacity, better-utilising technology and ensuring scalability will enable Posts and LSPs to manage demand and have the agility to react in real-time. Posts and LSPs need to have efficient systems in place and advance their capacity and investment going into 2021, crafting a clear vision for the future.
How has the industry as a whole become smarter in terms of technology transformations?
2021 is a chance for a new start; supply chain and last-mile providers are being forced to find sustainable and financially sound solutions to cope with the future. The world is continually changing, but the pace of change has gathered momentum exponentially in recent years, to succeed, businesses also need to be able to think and act fast. The post-Christmas 2020 period will present more significant challenges, with record numbers of returns expected. A critical logistics exercise is determining how to manage the volume of parcels, as part of the overall customer experience and in the time scales expected by customers.
As the market keeps on delivering and getting smarter, so do technology advancements, which have changed the landscape for Post, parcel and logistics providers forever. The industry continues to embrace change, and as revolutionary trends emerge, it’s essential to keep up with innovations, ensuring that your business can capitalise on these growth opportunities. Take for instance e-commerce, where levels in demand have increased dramatically, in fact, European e-commerce providers experienced a 71% increase in online orders during May 2020, and this figure was even higher in the USA at 90%. Statista predicts that cross-border e-commerce will account for 22% of physical product shipments by 2022, up from 15% in 2016.
With peak volumes expected to flow into 2021; the next consideration is managing this increase in demand. HypaShip can help to ensure that your business keeps on delivering in line with the latest developments, getting the basics right with your technology. By having efficient systems in place to manage fluctuating demands, the Post, parcel and logistics industry can overcome changes and capitalise on opportunities. Our platform allows you to take control of the delivery process for customers.
The power of analytics and data:
As the logistics volumes grow in line with e-commerce growth we’re seeing a correlating upswing in data generated, “data is the new oil, but data is only useful when it is refined.”(Dana Von Der Heide, Founder of Parcel Perform, 2020). The logistics industry is becoming more reliant on full data transparency; the greater the data visibility and useability, the more efficiently plans are delivered. Data analytics are playing a major part in mapping out customer behaviour, such as deciphering when they prefer deliveries and how their needs can be better met. Data is analysed to determine what time slots the customers tend to use, predicting future patterns of behaviour. By thinking beyond the delivery process and gaining insights from the consumer, companies can better drive efficiency, thus a better customer experience. Efficiency is also driven by using the data generated by operations to enable new insights for the future. Utilising the functionality from HypaShip, we can help you to understand your business at a granular level with our analysis tools.
Route optimisation:
Advancement in route planning technology is accelerating, which is helping to manage fluctuating volumes whilst reducing the environmental impact of deliveries. Businesses are looking at alternative solutions to make deliveries, aiming to reduce emissions and fuel consumption overall. Diversification of fleet, fuel sources, and advancing technologies are essential, such as turning to electric vehicles, sustainable packaging and relying on renewable fuels. Technology transformations are helping to optimise delivery routes, stop sequences and keep all delivery time promises, shortening operating times, lowering mileage and reducing costs compared to the standard route optimisation solutions. HypaShip can help you to balance workloads to reduce the number of vehicles and drivers needed on any given day. Improvement in delivery efficiency and reductions in emissions output is achieved utilising our delivery optimisation platform and on-road tools.
On-demand delivery, driving customer experience:
Growth of on-demand delivery and reliability are two buzzwords on everybody’s lips when it comes to the Postal service. The change and speed of delivery have dramatically changed due to the growth of e-commerce. People are more focused on delivery times, especially as more consumers have come online – in fact, 21% of new buyers came online during the start of the pandemic, with numbers growing. Changing consumer behaviour has led to them demanding scalable delivery solutions and driving the need for same-day and specific time deliveries. Companies are under pressure to meet these demands, yet still ensure that they are timely, convenient and affordable to customers. Hyapship’s end-to-end Postal and Logistics Platform provides reliability, visibility and efficiency in every step of the supply chain journey, from collection to delivery.
Customer safety first and responsible delivery:
Remember that the customer is in charge and the drive for change comes from them. Although parcel numbers are increasing dramatically, consumers are more concerned about their health and want the most sustainable way to receive their parcels. Getting to know your customers better has never been more critical; the same is true of being able to adapt to their demands. Customers demand convenience, and for some time they will want contactless deliveries, which will mean channels such as Lockers are increasingly important. Businesses are under pressure to innovate to better deliver on what consumers want, as they have more choice, therefore are more likely to switch between operators. HypaShip will help you to increase and improve CSAT and engagement with our customer suite, let us show you.
The growth in automation:
Advancement in automation will help Posts to deliver for the next peaks in 2021. For instance, new technology is creating significantly lower sortation costs as it allows flexibility. Autonomous electric vans and robots are driving rapid technological developments, helping to overcome labour shortages and still dealing with an increase in demand. For instance, Eurotec’s Lowpad family of robots are a fleet of smart AGVs/AMRs that are suitable for most logistics requirements. These types of transformations will play a key role in improving operations, transforming parcel processes and creating multiple sorting solutions to increase flexibility again.
Get in touch to see how our AI and Machine Learning Capabilities can support your drive toward automation.
Postal, Parcel and Logistics Service Providers want to stay relevant and viable in a changing world. To do this, there are key technology developments and new solutions that they must engage with. By advancing their technology infrastructure, they can drive customer experience, diversify and expand their offering, integrate their processes and systems seamlessly, ultimately increasing efficiency and profitability.
If businesses capitalise on these growth opportunities and technology developments, there is a greater chance of remaining resilient. As the industry gets smarter, companies need to be able to flex, act faster and be nimble in decision-making – this will help to deliver for the future.
HypaShip is here to support you in delivering for the future.
Get in touch today to see how HypaShip can help to speed up the process of digitalisation and ensure efficiency in the long term – Book a call.
January 2021
