Can I have my deliveries NOW… please!

Our increased demand for instant gratification entails business opportunities for the logistics industry. For e-commerce companies, rapid parcel delivery is necessary in winning the fight for consumers’ attention and money. How can these companies compete leveraging cost-efficient, high-quality and punctual deliveries?

The power of immediate gratification…now, now, NOW!

Increasingly, we tend to live in a real-time world. Consequently, we want things here and now and we obviously care more about the present than the future. Examples of this type of behavior include: constantly checking for social media updates, accessing on-demand movies, gaming, and demanding same-day delivery of parcels. This culture of living for the NOW is especially evident when it comes to millennials.

One major reason for the growing importance of instant gratification is the Internet. We are so often only a click away from getting what we want. Whether this is streamed music, setting up an online date or checking out what our friends are up to on Facebook.

Increased competition for the e-commerce industry

We know that e-commerce parcel volumes are growing rapidly. An interesting observation by the European eCommerce & Omni-Channel Trade Association is that, in many countries in Europe, the number of e-commerce shoppers is rather constant. However, each shopper is purchasing more and more. For e-commerce companies, this means that competition comes not only from similar products these days. They also need to fight for the same money and attention for which different products and services are fighting. Should I purchase a new sweater or maybe watch an online movie? If I have wait two weeks for the sweater, perhaps I’ll get the move instead, since I can have that right now.

Delivery performance is becoming an increasingly crucial part of the e-commerce shopping experience. With all of the information available on Internet, great delivery is a way in which e-commerce companies can differentiate themselves. There are many example of logistics companies that have understood this. Coles is a company that offers home deliveries of groceries in just 30-minutes.

Opportunity to leverage last mile delivery technology

So, how can we achieve “right now” parcel delivery? To fulfill consumers’ requirements in terms of cost, quality and timing, all steps in the delivery process must be optimized. The good news is that the technology is available. Read more about Last Mile Delivery