A failed delivery means that one out of every two buyers doesn't come back. It's easy to see why there's such a buzz around logistics, which is sure to take the lead in our 5th Industrial Revolution.
Rain and good weather
Do you know the real secret of Amazon's first takeoff? When all brands distributed their products in 15 days, Amazon offered delivery in 2 days.
The success of GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon), the more recent success of NATU (Netflix, Airbnb, Tesla, Uber), and further afield of BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi), teaches us that a business must, by its very nature, tackle one of the 3 biological levers of the purchasing decision:
- the heart, like companies appealing to our emotions (Facebook)
- the reproductive organs, for brands that appeal to our ego and desire for seduction (Apple)
- and the brain, for activities that will lead us to logical thinking (Google). This is the case of the Supply Chain.
Pragmatic and subject to calculations and algorithms, the Supply Chain tackles the optimization of costs, and therefore of the margins generated by the company. In other words, the logistics branch can decide the entire fate of a company.
Dinosaurs vs. Chicks
The e-commerce sector has never grown as fast as it is today, but the real reason for the importance of Logistics is far more intriguing than this simple growth effect...
Long wrongly considered as a simple ancillary department only exciting the mathematical minds of industrialists and graduates in logistics management, the Supply Chain actually deserves a privileged place in a company's strategy. It no longer answers only to operational logic but also to human and emotional factors linked to the customer's experience, before, during, and after their purchase.
Large manufacturers have always relied for their distribution on a market almost monopolized by postal services and traditional carriers with 3-letter acronyms well known to all. The development of the latter, the territorial network resulting from their development, the facilitated globalization of e-commerce and the growing volume of packages to be delivered have enabled these carriers to gain market share.
Their shipping clients have thus taken the opportunity to subcontract their logistics flows, with the primary goal of “Distribution”. However, at the time, distribution success was measured by a horizontal quantitative approach (selling a lot through resellers), while others (Apple for example) preferred a vertical qualitative strategy (selling well and internally). It is because they have launched with them at high speed on the rails of quantitative expansion that our major carriers are breaking their teeth on what is today at the heart of the consumer's concerns: quality.
Because the technology of logistics tools and modes of transport has evolved significantly, e-buyers have been offered multitudes of advantages for the delivery of their products, thus making them ultra-demanding: express delivery, free delivery, delivery in relay, etc.
The dinosaurs of the sector do not benefit from the precision and agility necessary to keep up with such dynamics. It seems obvious to partner with the delivery chicks, to whom they can bring the advantage of volume and big money.
An incredible retention lever
All other departments having been squeezed like oranges for juice, the Supply Chain still offers great possibilities. We recommend paying particular attention to last-mile logistics since it is the extension and conclusion of the customer experience. Like dessert for your guests who are just waiting for it, delivery of the last mile can be as decisive as it is penalizing: it's up to you to make the right choice.
A company that wishes to improve its quality of service and build customer loyalty will naturally turn to a tailor-made urban transport service, for quality deliveries adapted to the person who receives the package, only they will decide whether he will return to the site for a second purchase…
55% of e-consumers will not return to your site if the delivery went wrong. Delivery is so important that it has become THE number 1 criterion for online purchasing for consumers!
Marketing companies have been recommending that you optimize your purchasing funnel for decades now. This obsession has led many e-retailers to neglect other conversion and retention channels such as delivery; and ultimately forgetting that the first convinced customers were quietly waiting for their orders on their doorstep... only to end up having a damaged, late or completely missing product delivered.
Although the activity operates on a b2b basis, at Weeship we are committed to always placing the end consumer at the center of all our operational and innovation efforts. We have given ourselves the mission of delivering all of our customers' packages with a smile, to see the same smile appear on the face of the customer, the first decision-maker and king in the market.
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