We already know that technology is transforming the way people live or companies do business. In the courier industry, things are looking bright as well. Emerging trends and advancing technologies make it possible for courier companies to upgrade their services for customers who want no less than a fast and efficient delivery service.
High customer expectation creates a demand for better courier services, especially in booming markets such as e-commerce. Thus, merchants need a reliable courier partner in ensuring that customers benefit from the best delivery service including same day delivery.
This concept in door-to-door delivery is now happening in many parts of the world wherein individuals and business customers pay more attention to quality service and timeliness over other factors when choosing a courier company.
In the future, delivery services may turn out even better with these trends:
Bike Couriers
Bike courier delivery is one of the most common ways for logistics companies to ship items to customers, which range from clothing products to grocery staples or pre-cooked food.
Bike couriers or Runners, as we call them, can also deliver important documents from point to point in no time after you book the service.
Since bikes are small vehicles that can manage their way through congested streets or roads, courier services can be your go-to mode of delivery when you need to get something to your customers on the dot.
Crowdsourced Delivery
The concept of crowdsourced delivery applies the principle of sharing your resources or services with a group or community so they could use them for their needs.
Since crowdsourced delivery doesn’t rely on the logistics of the courier company and mobilises any available resources instead, it cuts the time that recipients of parcels have to wait for their delivery to arrive. This is what makes the crowdsourced delivery system appealing to customers and businesses.
For instance, a retail company can ask its employees to deliver packages that customers ordered online as the employees head back home from work. It does not only pay extra money to employees. It also reduces the company’s delivery load and gets the goods to customers.
Drone Delivery
As the name suggests, this type of delivery uses drones or other types of autonomous airborne vehicles that can carry light-weight packages and drop them off at the recipients’ location.
Drone deliveries, both commercial and non-commercial, are now happening in many places across the globe. Drones are not only fast – with delivery speed ten times more than electric cars – but they’re also the kind of modern technology that today’s generation craves.
Droids and Autonomous Vehicles
Ground deliveries have just become smarter with the use of droids and other driverless vehicles.
These delivery vehicles are fitted with cameras, sensors, and other tools to turn them into smart assistants that can fulfill delivery functions without the need for a driver. The droids operate under the supervision of an operator in control centres to make sure that the delivery robots are en route to the right destination.
Online food delivery service companies can benefit from this as droids can assist their restaurant partners wherever customers want their favorite meals delivered. (Image source: Institution of Mechanical Engineers)
Courier Management Mobile Apps
For logistics companies, courier management mobile apps are a useful tool, as they use these apps to access relevant information about their supplier partners and their customers.
A courier service in Australia, for example, can get real-time information about its business customers’ outbound shipments such as pick-up schedules and delivery load.
In turn, the courier company can use this information to organise their delivery service to customers, including prioritising urgent orders for customers who opt for same day delivery.
Unreliable, inefficient, or poor delivery service has no place in today’s business landscape, as customers are no longer putting up with it. On the contrary, customers want a fast and organised system from their courier service. Fortunately, there are many available tools, technologies, and ideas that can help make these things possible for delivery services end-users.