If you feel like the goalposts are moving, you’re right. E-commerce is shifting toward ultrafast delivery in 2024, and brands that don’t offer it risk losing sales to those that do.
We’ve all heard the news. Amazon is planning to expand its same-day delivery capacity, including adding new facilities to accommodate the inventory. For 2024, that means the two- or three-day shipping expectation that used to be table stakes will feel increasingly slow for online shoppers. Even small retailers will need to address this new level of consumer demand. Crowd-sourced delivery is key here.
Being able to deliver orders quickly is one thing, but delivering them efficiently is another story, and cracking that code can help maximize your last-mile profitability in 2024. Effective order consolidation means using technology to organize deliveries into optimized batches, then sending them with fewer delivery drivers than you would for point-to-point deliveries.
Not only do customers receive their orders on time, but senders can use batching and routing to reduce overhead, see order changes and cancellations in real time and cut unproductive drive time when no deliveries are being made.
For many retailers, order consolidation will be the key that unlocks ultrafast delivery at an affordable cost. Consumer interest in buying from brands with sustainability messages isn’t dropping off. A survey from Descartes this June found that 60% of shoppers were interested in environmentally friendly delivery methods, but only 43% felt retailers were executing these goals.
Delivery logistics puts countless vehicles on the road, and the last mile makes up as much as half of the associated vehicle emissions. It will become increasingly important to focus on reducing that impact in 2024.