The last mile network needs to enhance connectivity according to the report State of Last Mile Logistics, recently released by Bringg.
The survey, which included 200 logistics and transportation leaders, from across North America and Europe, looked into last-mile operations. When asked what would give providers a competitive advantage, more than half of respondents (54%) pointed toward business analytics across all carriers. Improving integrations and delivery performance with external carriers relies on having a strong, connected last mile ecosystem that can deliver accurate, real-time data across all resources and systems.
At the top of the list was the need for automated tools that provided visibility that could improve customer experiences. The survey found that. 86% of providers are either already using order batching technology, or plan to by the year 2024.
Key findings in the report include:
- Shipper onboarding and integration top the list of last-mile operational pain points for all respondents (44%), followed by visibility into outsourced delivery partners (44%), and carrier and driver management (41%).
- Enabling greater delivery experiences for end customers, and operating more profitably at scale, logistics providers continue to prioritize visibility and automation across stakeholders as methods of reducing delivery costs. 87% are implementing or planning to implement real-time visibility by 2024 to help grow delivery volumes, with that number climbing to 90% for automated dispatch and routing.
- 38% of respondents struggle with driver retention, and 40% are significantly raising driver wages to meet this challenge.
- 27% of logistics providers this year said that offering returns and pickup services are one of their top strategies for increasing business through last-mile operations – compared to only 5% of respondents in Bringg's 2021 logistics report.
- 41% of providers point towards managing multiple carriers as a top pain point, and 18% claim it to be the top blocker to more profitable last-mile delivery – a number that grows to 25% for North American companies.
"Today's consumers demand fast and on-demand delivery options that logistics and delivery providers must strive to meet," said Guy Bloch, CEO at Bringg, in a statement. "Logistic providers have increased their delivery capacity to keep up with rising eCommerce volumes and evolving consumer expectations. But many of their current solutions are not scalable and have come at the expense of visibility, efficiency and as a result, profitability. More businesses will implement last-mile delivery software to automate order dispatch, route planning, task allocation, performance monitoring, digitized end customer experiences, and other logistics tasks. In order to thrive in the last-mile ecosystem in 2022, providers must be able to execute a well-planned strategy and focus their existing resources wisely."
