When talking about last-mile carrier tracking transportation, we refer to the final phase of a shipment’s journey or when the package is being moved from a transportation hub or warehouse to its final destination: the customer.
From providing customers with real-time insights into their delivery to giving you a holistic view of delivery logistics and empowering you to be customer-centric, last mile carrier tracking is a must for your eCommerce business.
Moreover, if last-mile transportation tracking is not yet a priority for your online store, you might not be making the most out of your financial situation because of certain inefficiencies, some of which you might not even be aware of.
In fact, last-mile delivery expenditures account for over half (53%) of the total shipping cost.
The final mile delivery is by far the most expensive component of the fulfillment process, with an average expenditure of $10.1 per package delivered. Businesses charge customers an average of $8.08 to cover these expenditures, leaving a profit margin of sold goods after that.
Truth be told, consumers nowadays are expecting low-cost, fast delivery from all businesses, bigger or smaller, leading to a tougher, more competitive business climate.
Ecommerce businesses are faced with extreme pressure to deliver their physical products fast while reducing transportation prices as much as possible.
In 2020 alone, the global last mile delivery market size, in terms of revenue, was worth USD 108.10 Billion, and is expected to reach USD 200.42 Billion in 2027, study finds.
However, this leads to a number of challenges for logistics suppliers and online store owners, creating additional pressure for everyone involved in the supply chain. Therefore, every company should be aware of three things:
Although last mile tracking may be one of the greatest development areas in the logistics business, it comes with both perks and disadvantages. In terms of challenges, the most prevalent one is meeting customer demands, so retailers and eCommerce businesses are also being more demanding to their carriers.
For instance, apps like WeSupply enable both service providers and eCommerce businesses to efficiently keep track of delivery dates and order status to prevent failed delivery attempts or a decrease in satisfaction from customers.
Follow these procedures to create a cost-effective and long-term system to keep track of your shipments on the last mile:
Understand the customer perspective
Follow the 4 rules of last-mile carrier tracking efficiency
Keep an eye on the price
Look out for future trends
Customers now expect clear communication and real-time information delivered to them about their orders. This usually includes very specific information, such as package tracking updates and accurate delivery dates.
Furthermore, they want to communicate with logistics service providers and have the opportunity to rate their experience.
A streamlined last-mile experience can significantly cut down on “Where Is My Order?” support tickets, which happens to be the most frequently asked customer service question, often causing customers shipping anxiety.
Next-day delivery and low prices, if none at all, is a must for customers in order to proceed with their buying decision. Easy, preferably self-service returns are also on the agenda for improving the last mile delivery experience for customers. And last but not least, same-day delivery is essential in order to reduce the shipping anxiety to the lowest point for your customers.
Know your numbers and track your data for better results. Luckily, WeSupply enables you to look up orders through the Orders Search Bar. You can filter orders in just a moment and quickly gather the information you need for more effective order management.
Moreover, your customer service representatives can easily search for orders by multiple filters at once, like the order number, billing or shipping name, email address, order status, shipping status, item status, and date range.
Plan in advance and be one step ahead of your customers. How? Using WeSupply, you can proactively notify your customers of the latest status of their order, before they reach out to you. Considering that the initial “package shipped” email isn’t sufficient anymore, you can cut down on re-shipping resources by sending out email notifications throughout the delivery process, and even gathering essential feedback from your customers post-purchase.
Delivery updates can also take the form of SMS notifications. These notifications can also serve as proof of delivery for your store. Tracking the route of the package enables you to provide an exceptional delivery experience as an end result.
We cannot stress enough the fact that effective communication plays a significant role in the customers’ experience with your online store. Fostering clear, concise communication with your customers will increase the chances of them returning if they are happy with the service you provided them and their experience shopping on your site.
The best way for an online store owner or manager is by having effective customer-facing relations so people feel valued when coming into contact with your team. In this regard, last mile tracking software can provide you with visibility into exactly what’s happening with each order at any given time.
This gives you control over the information you further send out to your customers, from how long ago the last tracking update was received to whether we’ve seen any other shipping status changes in recent days.
For instance, WeSupply enables you to identify and manage stalled shipments and delivery exceptions in just a few clicks. If something unexpected happens, we’ll let you know right away so that no one goes without their package, regardless of the carrier you’re working with.
People love rating their experiences and this is very much true in the case of customer satisfaction. There are plenty of tools you can use in order to ask for feedback to better understand what your customers like and dislike about their experience with your online store and product delivery service.
Fortunately, using WeSupply, you can help your support team stay informed about your customers’ experience with your brand and let their feedback be a significant source of learning for future improvement and growth.
Businesses have always needed to be cost-efficient in order for them not just to survive but thrive, but this has proven to be a real challenge, regardless of the industry.
1. Decrease the number of re-shipments due to a lack of effective communication. It is easy to miss deliveries if not announced properly, and a single unsuccessful delivery costs $17.78. That is why getting things right the first time and providing timely notifications are so vital.
2. Have a clear overview of all deliveries and their statuses. Accessing all information in one place will make this more effective for you to keep track of everything, and it will help you better manage your inventory, reducing both maintenance and storage costs.
3. Make sure you let your customers know about sudden changes in delivery route, caused by events such as route maintenance issues or even traffic congestion. This will help you reduce the number of re-shipments, which also leads to better use of your time and money.
Always be one step ahead: anticipating these situations and being prepared to effectively deal with them will bring you the lowest prices possible and increase your overall rating.
Technology is only getting smarter, and investing in the last mile experience by using delivery tracking apps like WeSupply is cost-effective because it can save you a lot of resources by cutting down on WISMO support queries and positively impacting churn, keeping more customers loyal to your brand for longer.
Don’t shy away from using shipment tracking apps to increase last mile visibility and always provide your customers with the package location and tracking information all the way.
Last mile branded tracking pages are key for successful relationships with your customers. In fact, besides improving your customers’ experience by giving them real-time access to accurate shipping information, by having a branded tracking page, you can increase customer loyalty and confidence in the brand, while also centralizing the data systems.
Analytics are a fundamental part of an organization’s growth and it will help you determine which areas need more work done or how you can improve the overall performance of your organization.
Learn to keep an eye on data, and you’ll surely learn new and valuable things about your relationship with your customers.
This trend has been all the rage these past couple of years, and we can clearly see that is here to stay. We often live hectic lives that require us to think and act fast and this is also highlighted by our buying decisions: we want something and we need it now.
Turning to same-day delivery can increase your chances of retaining customers and increasing the number of sales.
Reaching out to your customers is just one piece of the puzzle: you also need to make sure they have the right channels to get to you when they need clarifications or have any questions for your support team.
Being able to send relevant and timely delivery notifications through a customer’s preferred channel will help you better meet their expectations and drive more brand loyalty. This includes accurate ETAs, courier company contact information, their schedule, delivery routes, and process.
They’re a simple way for our system to “talk” to third-party systems like Slack, Messenger, WhatsApp, or others, in order to notify your shoppers when a new order update occurs.
Webhooks can be used as a medium to notify third-party applications when a particular event has happened. Instead of making repeated calls to pull data frequently from the WeSupply API, you can use webhooks to get information on events that happen when a notification is triggered.
What is the bottom line? It’s simple: last-mile carrier tracking is the key to creating a great experience for your shoppers. It will help you meet current demands while creating an overall better one for your customers, which means they’ll be more likely to return and refer their friends to your online store!
If you’re looking for more details, make sure to get in touch. We’re always here to help!
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