The grocery delivery market is poised for growth, with online grocery sales estimated to reach $100 billion by 2022. Unsurprisingly, Amazon is leading the online grocery battle because Amazon’s delivery services are a logistical marvel. The e-commerce giant assures same-day deliveries to Amazon Prime members with no extra fees or minimum order criteria. Now, customers—both Amazon Prime and non-prime — are judging other delivery services against this new standard of customer experience, and expect delivery within 1 hour.
However, the success in the grocery delivery services is mainly dependent on two factors – time and efficiency. As an online grocer, it is critical to get fresh produce delivered at the right time to the right customer.
Unfortunately, unpredictable factors such as last-minute customer requests, specific delivery windows, and traffic congestion can wreak havoc on route planning efforts. Some small- to mid-sized grocers spend hours every morning mapping out delivery routes using pen and paper or using inappropriate tools like Google Maps—only to find that these routes need to be adjusted throughout the day.
Because grocery delivery is costly and time-consuming, improving efficiency and lowering costs should be your top priority. This is where delivery optimization comes in. An advanced delivery optimization software, such as Route4me, can help you improve operational efficiency through quicker route planning, faster deliveries, and driver monitoring.
Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Boost Your Profits?
By implementing last-mile delivery optimization software, your business can reap a range of benefits that improve efficiency, increase profits, and help the environment by reducing your carbon footprint. Let’s find out how route optimization software can help.
Create Efficient Routes
Without well-planned routes, your drivers will not know the best way to deliver groceries to customers, which means deliveries will be late. Late deliveries will lead to upset customers, which will eventually mean a loss of both revenue and reputation.
For planning the fastest route for delivering groceries, you will have to consider factors like traffic, weather, road conditions, specific delivery windows, etc. Manually balancing all of these factors for multiple vehicles, and hundreds- if not thousands- of routes is a time-consuming and challenging process.
Route4Me’s delivery route optimization software, using Dynamic Route Optimization™ technology, can create accurate and well-optimized routes in less than 30 seconds, regardless of the number of stops you have.
Modify Routes in Real-time
Your customers’ needs can change at any time – they may request a different delivery time or ask you to get groceries delivered to a different address. Changing one address can impact the entire route. This exercise may take hours if you attempt to do it manually. Even if you’re able to modify the route at the last minute, how would you communicate these changes or relay those new directions to your driver? One option is to call your driver, but distracting the driver with a phone call could be dangerous.
Route4Me’s last-mile delivery optimization software will solve both of these problems. It takes just a couple of seconds to re-create a modified route, so juggling or jostling a few addresses will not be a gigantic task. With our advanced route planning software, any change you make to an already planned route will also automatically get reflected on your driver’s mobile app, so you won’t have to distract them with a phone call.
Monitor Drivers
Drivers often tend to slack off when they are unsupervised. Your drivers may indulge in non-productive activities on the road, such as stopping for coffee when they are not scheduled for a break or running personal errands while on duty. Your drivers may even engage in unsafe driving habits, such as speeding, harsh braking, or tailgating. But how do you monitor your drivers’ activities when you can’t see them?
Route4Me’s route planner software has GPS tracking capabilities that allow you to track drivers’ on-road activities in real-time to make sure they are sticking to their routes and following safe driving practices.
Reduce Fuel Expenses
Using a route planner helps you save fuel usage, and therefore, costs. When you provide drivers with the shortest and fastest routes possible, driving time gets reduced, which also reduces fuel consumption.
Having a route optimizer in place, like Route4Me, will also save you money on unscheduled vehicle repairs because Route4Me’s reporting and analytics feature will allow you to keep track of fuel costs and other essential information related to your vehicle’s overall health.
Settle Customer Disputes Easily
What if you have a dispute where the customer says the groceries were never delivered, yet your driver insists on making the delivery… but has lost the confirmation slip? Won’t that put you in a tight spot?
Route4Me’s multi-stop route planner comes equipped with an eSignature feature that will settle such disputes. This feature allows your customers to sign for deliveries on your driver’s mobile app. This proof of delivery will never get damaged or lost. You will always be sure if a delivery was made or not.
Conclusion
In the age of advanced and readily-available final mile delivery software, there’s no reason why a grocery delivery business should struggle with manual route planning. Delivery optimization can help you win the loyalty and attention of customers. Finding the right delivery route planner app for your specific needs might be a little tricky, but it will be worth the effort.
Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Boost Your Profits?
