Leading integrated 3PL services provider Shadowfax Technologies had recently co-launched the ‘Delivery Delight Index’ to help foster deeper understanding of customer behaviour and preferences and help the brands better serve their customers. In this interview, Aniket Nathvani, AVP, Corporate Development, Shadowfax Technologies offers his key insights on consumer satisfaction raising the bar for efficient delivery, the lessons unearthed during the pandemic
and how enhanced delivery experience will change the road ahead.
Hyperlocal delivery has been a major winner during the pandemic as a consequence of shopkeepers adopting multichannel strategies to cater to customer demands. What happens once the situation stabilises? Can hyperlocal be scaled to meet the rising demand?
During the pandemic, hyperlocal delivery became a win-win solution for small sellers and aggregators alike. While the lockdown may be behind us, hyperlocal delivery services are here to stay. At Shadowfax, we have witnessed that the rise in demand for hyperlocal deliveries of essential categories was to nearly 3-5 times of pre-Covid times. Also, we see demand coming from other categories too, including food deliveries. In pandemic times, route planning and last-mile delivery optimisation are of paramount importance to ensure smooth operations and faster delivery. However, setting up hyper-local delivery might look like a difficult logistical assignment as it requires careful route planning and flexibility to change routes or the number of riders based on real-time needs. However, real-time order visibility, dynamic routing, and driver allocation can help make last-mile deliveries accessible and effective. With these parameters in place, it becomes easier for businesses to set up the hyper-local delivery model.
How can businesses set up the hyper-local delivery mode in a more efficient manner?
Due to the pandemic, many companies took their business online as a means to survive and continue serving their customers. This adversity has opened newer avenues for brands to survive and thrive. In order to cater to their consumers’ hyper local delivery needs, brands need a robust admin panel, an efficient and effective customer tracking app, and a powerful delivery driver app. Furthermore, companies must concentrate on consumer satisfaction, keeping a close watch on consumer trends and preferences.
What are the pros of adopting on-demand logistics over traditional logistics?
On-demand logistics offers several advantages over traditional logistics, primary being lower operational costs. The extensive use of digital technology, e-invoicing, and efficient delivery methods are other critical factors that improve both outcomes and overall processes. Hence, 3PL logistics players are embracing the gig economy to deliver high-quality, on-demand services with a mobile-first approach and technology being core to all functions. Automation has also emerged as an important feature in today’s logistics ecosystem, but the necessity for manpower still exists when it comes to tasks requiring intelligence and critical thinking.
The Delivery Delight Index amongst everything else, has also displayed how 3PL players will play a critical role in helping emerging brands/ platforms to expand their reach, as well as improve the delivery experience. Please share your thoughts on the ‘Democratisation of Delivery’ along these lines.
We are very excited about the launch of the Delivery Delight Index. The core need that we felt behind launching the index is that there is very little knowledge reference available in the public domain to objectively measure customer experience around delivery in e-commerce. The report also gives brands a comparative view of how they are performing across critical customer delight parameters compared to their peers in the respective industry verticals. It also covers end to end aspects from order to postdelivery experience. Creating more buzz and visibility around the index will make brands and service providers alike more cognizant of gaps between customer expectations and ongoing service levels based on a fair evaluation, hence democratising the delivery experience. Would urge readers to download a copy and get the latest insights on delivery and e-commerce.
