Continued growth of e-commerce and heightened customer expectations have prompted huge innovation in last-mile delivery practices. Last-mile delivery involves three main players – customers, merchants, and delivery providers – each with a different set of challenges and expectations. Customers have high expectations for speed, flexibility, security, and delivery cost. A survey by Temando showed that most customers value the option for same-day delivery. Many would also like in-store shopping experiences to offer home, office, and other shipping capabilities.

1. Effect Last Mile Delivery
4 Innovations That Will Seriously
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2. C o n t i n u e d g r o w t h o f e - c o m m e r c e a n d h e i g h t e n e d c u s t o m e r
e x p e c t a t i o n s h a v e p r o m p t e d h u g e i n n o v a t i o n i n l a s t - m i l e d e l i v e r y
p r a c t i c e s . L a s t - m i l e d e l i v e r y i n v o l v e s t h r e e m a i n p l a y e r s –
c u s t o m e r s , m e r c h a n t s , a n d d e l i v e r y p r o v i d e r s – e a c h w i t h a
d i f f e r e n t s e t o f c h a l l e n g e s a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s .
C u s t o m e r s h a v e h i g h e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s p e e d , f l e x i b i l i t y , s e c u r i t y ,
a n d d e l i v e r y c o s t . A s u r v e y b y T e m a n d o s h o w e d t h a t m o s t
c u s t o m e r s v a l u e t h e o p t i o n f o r s a m e - d a y d e l i v e r y . M a n y w o u l d a l s o
l i k e i n - s t o r e s h o p p i n g e x p e r i e n c e s t o o f f e r h o m e , o f f i c e , a n d o t h e r
s h i p p i n g c a p a b i l i t i e s .
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3. The key advantage to unmanned
drones is speed. Unconstrained by
road congestion and infrastructure
issues, drones are able to deliver
faster than cars and trucks.
Drones can also travel through
difficult terrain, such as mountains
and forests, easily and with a shorter
route.
Utilizing drones instead of delivery
cars and trucks offers a decreased
environmental impact, as less cars
and trucks will be needed on the
roads, resulting in less pollution.
D R O N E S

4. Similar to drones, delivery robots
are unmanned delivery devices that
are remote-operated by a controller.
But, these devices are designed to
travel by “foot” or bike at no more
than 4 miles per hour.
This innovation is perfect for
suburban areas that aren’t busy,
assisted-living facilities, and
campuses. They allow quick, flexible
delivery and a reduced
environmental impact. Robots are
carbon-emission free.
R O B O T S

5. Driverless, or autonomous, vehicles
are becoming more and more
buzzworthy. These vehicles are
capable of sensing their
environment and navigating with no
human input or control.
Major automakers and tech
companies like Google and Uber
have already begun testing
autonomous vehicles, and hope to
significantly reduce the number of
car accidents and car-related
fatalities through the use of them.
A U T O N O M O U S
V E H I C L E S

6. Advanced algorithms and analytics
also make it easier for new entrants
to offer same-day delivery and the
option to shop for a product on
behalf of someone else. Product
search-and-match tools allow the
latter, while task-courier matching
and routing optimization make
same-day delivery possible.
A D V A N C E D
A L G O R I T H M S A N D
A N A L Y T I C S

7. T H A N K Y O U !
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