{"id":29365,"date":"2019-10-14T10:32:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=29365"},"modified":"2019-10-18T10:28:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T09:28:51","slug":"picup-ceo-looks-at-how-you-can-can-offer-faster-deliveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2019\/10\/14\/picup-ceo-looks-at-how-you-can-can-offer-faster-deliveries\/","title":{"rendered":"Picup CEO looks at how you can can offer faster deliveries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Free delivery has been the most powerful drawcard for retailers to attract customers to their online stores and undoubtedly, the most successful online marketing tool ever devised for ecommerce. However, this is changing, and retailers are starting to offer faster deliveries to attract customers to their online store, which poses a different set of cost challenges. Antonio Bruni, CEO of South African logistics company Picup, looks into this in more detail.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same-day and on-demand delivery follow a completely different\nmodel to the economy solution, with lower order volumes and the increased\nmanpower required for faster fulfilment, these express options warrant a higher\ndelivery fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecommerce makes up only 1% of the overall retail market in South Africa compared to 8.3% in the USA. While this might be small, we look to our global counterparts to set the trends and test the waters. The time it takes for South Africa to catch up will be determined by the speed we start adopting the mindsets of these global frontrunners \u2014 which is fast-paced and innovative, always evolving in order to win customers over by providing a better and more convenient user experience all round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small to medium retailers in SA have all the resources available to set up an ecommerce solution quickly and seamlessly, there are easy to setup ecommerce websites using pre-populated themes with plugins for inventory management, payment gateways and delivery that make purchasing quick and easy for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can start selling online within minutes at a minimal fee\ncompared to a few years ago where an upfront development investment was\nrequired. Once the platform is set up, the fulfilment and delivery component require\nsome careful planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etailers need strong distribution networks that are quick and\nefficient, their customers cannot wait for long periods for the delivery of\nproducts. They will need to consider which courier is best in which area, i.e.\nlocal or international. This will normally result in juggling accounts with\nmultiple courier partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine the cost, one would need to plug in the various\ncourier rates into the ecommerce store, and then it\u2019s up to them whether they\u2019d\nlike to offer any discounts or mark-ups on delivery. Because of low volumes,\ntheir rates are likely to be higher than established ecommerce stores,\nresulting in a possible barrier to entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the large bricks and mortar retailers, making the move into\nthe ecommerce market requires a lot more consideration on all fronts as scaling\nbecomes more complex than shipping one package from a nearby warehouse to a\nnearby customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucial to delivering a reliable logistics solution is choosing\nthe right Transport Management Software (TMS). Inventory management is the most\nimportant part of the delivery chain for large traditional (bricks and mortar)\nand online retailers. If they get this right, it allows them to offer a variety\nof delivery options seamlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, succeeding here is not easy as a number of decisions need\nto be made, mainly around warehousing and distribution. When it comes to\nwarehousing, a centralised dark store is the obvious answer for some retailers\nto take the hassle out of distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dark store is a large retail facility that resembles a\nconventional supermarket or store, but is not open to the public, only housing\ngoods used to fulfil orders placed online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advantages of a dark store are that one can manage inventory\nin real-time, it is faster to replenish stock and managing returns is easier\nwith one centralised location. More importantly, it allows for faster picking\nand packing timelines due to optimised store layouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

European retailers are already making use of goods-to-person pick\nstations where orders come in and a route is optimised for a mechanised system\nto send goods to the picker via a conveyor belt. This allows for cost effective\nsame-day, next-day, economy and other delivery options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest advantage is that from these dark stores or\ncentralised warehouses, smaller hubs can be serviced in strategic locations\nwhere order volumes are high. Middle mile vehicles can run daily loads from\ndark stores to hubs. These then act as an express lane for drivers to collect\nand deliver parcels, they cover shorter distances between drops that are\noptimised to ensure efficacies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulfilment from individual stores works when they are small. For\nsmall to medium retailers, an outsourced dark store may not be the best option,\nlow order volume and costs are the key factors influencing this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When order volumes are low, they can be picked and packed from\nstores at the same time while servicing walk-in clients. However, as online\norders scale, managing this becomes hugely time consuming. Stock control and\nreturns become challenging along with picking and packing space on the floor,\nin addition to managing deliveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusion to inventory management and making the right\ndecision simply lies in order volumes. Big retailers cannot afford to wait,\nthey need to invest in ecommerce now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They need to ensure stock is available around the clock, ensure\nall the delivery options are available at the right price and last make the\ncustomers\u2019 ordering experience flawless from start to finish. As the way\nwe shop continues to evolve, so do the touchpoints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumers are used to the friendly shop assistant who goes to\ncheck in the back for shoe sizes or the cashier who swipes a gift card and\nchecks that one hasn\u2019t purchased two left shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the convenience of shopping online, one is faced with the\nhelpful customer support tweet or the friendly voice on the other side of the\nphone. The only real human interaction comes into play when goods are\ndelivered. The delivery drivers have therefore become the face of the brand and\nneed to be trained customer service ambassadors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tech-enabled logistics platforms like Picup are changing the\ndelivery landscape for good. While technology plays its part in\nimproving efficiencies in a drivers\u2019 schedule, there is far more to creating a\ntrained customer service ambassador. Our delivery legends go through rigorous\non-board training before setting off on their first delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also empowered to perform better with our earning model\nthat rewards hard work and productivity. Each driver manages their own\nbusiness, equipped with the best technology to improve efficiency day-to-day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For retailers to get orders to customers swiftly, they need to\nship items from nearby stores using on-demand delivery companies and by using\nclick and collect points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because fast and free isn\u2019t easy, selecting the best combination\nof service types is the way forward for etailers and will clearly give\nretailers a competitive advantage. Delivery options could include a three-hour,\nsame day or next day delivery, or specific time slots where customers can\nchoose a date and time when they want their order delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, they could choose the economy option with delivery\nbetween two and five business days. Click-and-collect is another option where\nthe customer can choose the closest collection point where they want their\norder to be delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the ecommerce market continues to grow, so will the desire to\ndeliver and receive orders quickly and cheaply. While most people are willing\nto wait for their orders if it\u2019s free, there is an increasing number that are\nwilling to pay for faster deliveries as the on-demand culture grows globally. For decades\ncustomers were used to the same delivery standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big players are working around the clock to improve their service\nlevels by introducing new technology and improved delivery standards. However,\nthey face limitations in their ability to implement new innovation into their\nwell-oiled machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller more technology-focused businesses like Picup are changing\nthe delivery landscape by being more agile. They are able to trial and test new\nand potentially better ways to make a customer\u2019s experience more pleasant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern crowdsourced driver networks like Picup ensure their drivers\nhave all the tools readily available to deliver the goods day in and day out.\nThey have built a network of drivers that are trained and motivated to earn\nmore with a unique driver earning model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picup improves the driver experience with an incentivised delivery\nmodel. They have created a platform where the drivers are able to manage their\nown business, much like the way Uber\u2019s platform works with their drivers. This\nalso gives customers more visibility on their deliveries, using delivery\nnotifications and live tracking to help drivers minimise failed delivery\nattempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no first-time success with getting this right from the\nget-go, it requires constant trialling and testing of delivery routes and\nalgorithms and companies need to adapt as they go. While the ultimate goal is\non making delivery profit, Picup\u2019s primary focus at such an early stage of its\nbusiness lifecycle is to grow and sustain its crowdsourced driver network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retailers and etailers that plan to compete in future will have to\ninvest in ecommerce. Shortcuts will stunt their growth and, before they know\nit, they will be at the back of the queue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers also need to realise that there is a lot more that goes\ninto picking, packing and delivering their online orders. They need to be loyal\nto the providers that stick to their promises and provide an online shopping\nexperience that keeps them coming back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Free delivery has been the most powerful drawcard for retailers to attract customers to their online stores and undoubtedly, the most successful online marketing tool ever devised for ecommerce. However, this is changing, and retailers are starting to offer faster deliveries to attract customers to their online store, which poses a different set of cost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":29366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4950,6,399,602,10675,269,262],"tags":[11325,11330,3587,11329,11326,453,11328,11327],"class_list":["post-29365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-insights","category-more-news","category-retail","category-thought-leadership","category-trade-logistics","category-used","tag-antonio-bruni","tag-click-and-collect","tag-ecommerce","tag-eretailer","tag-picup","tag-south-africa","tag-tms","tag-transport-management-software"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29369,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29365\/revisions\/29369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}