The second day of DeliveryX LIVE moved beyond the buy button with a look at packaging, the last-mile and consumers opinion of home delivery services.
Following a welcome from day sponsors Descartes, Katie Searles gave a preview of the DeliveryX Packaging 2023 report, which is due to be published later this month. DeliveryX’s first digital report aims to highlight that packaging has become more than just about protection in transit, and really plays a key part in brand image and the customer experience.
Searles was then joined by Duncan Mitchell, CEO and Tom Nimmo, CTO of Ryde to discuss issues surrounding parcel delivery and what can be done about it.
Starting with delivery challenges, Mitchell explained: “There’s been a lot of controversy on quality of service in the industry lately.
“I’m sure everybody’s seen a bit of press on unreliable delivery service and issues with real-time management of people and delivery. The knock on effect of that has been profitability. We’re seeing increasingly declining margins for a lot of the larger companies in the space and a bit of a race to the bottom.”
Nimmo added that retailers and carriers alike should always keep the consumers in mind if they want to succeed. He stressed: “Allowing our customers to change what’s happening from their side is important. The ability for our customers to change the delivery slot in real time. Having these real time, instant updates, that’s the important thing.”
The Ryde team also touched on the importance of the right technology, but also the right staff policies to ensure modern parcel delivery is streamlined and safe for all parties involved.
Sticking with the subject of delivery, Chris Jones, executive VP industry & services at Descartes, took viewers through their latest research into the ‘Delivery Persona’. Jones explained that many retailers will pay attention to ‘buying personas’ but then “they try to treat everybody from a delivery point of view the same way”.
“Delivery personas really provide a couple opportunities. One of them is – there are people who will pay for convenience. It could only be 20% of your customers, but if you’re able to get a few more pounds per delivery for that option, you might find yourself really subsidising, or in fact maybe even generating more revenue than before. It could be literally millions of pounds depending on who you are.”
He explained that some consumers will look for the lowest cost options and are even willing to delay their deliveries to keep that fee down. This could allow retailers to be more efficient in their delivery, which is also becoming increasingly important from a sustainability point of view.
“We just put out a study this week in which 60% of the respondents want eco-friendly delivery options. They want the retailer to tell them that. Now, the amazing thing about most eco-friendly delivery options is they’re actually low cost options.
“If I bought several things during the week, only send them to me on a Friday. So instead of maybe having three deliveries, you only have one delivery. It is more eco-friendly, but it is also a consolidation.”
All of the session from both days of DeliveryX LIVE will be available to watch on demand in the coming days.
