Same-day delivery: The next evolutionary step in parcel logistics

If you’ve lived in London or any major European city in the last five years, you know the luxury of same-day delivery from Amazon. Buyers don’t need to nip out for that thing they forgot to buy. They can order online and have it delivered to their doorstep before sunset.

Wonderful right?

Amazon can’t do that in Malta because we’re an island, but Miles Express is stepping in to provide this sought-after service to e-commerce companies who want to fill this market gap.

It sounds like the epitome of luxury, but in reality, it’s just daily convenience powered by efficient logistics from companies who really care about delighting their customers.

We live in a technology based world centered around instantaneous gratification.

People are used to instant gratification and want their orders as fast as possible. In a place like Malta, this presents opportunities and a special competitive advantage because your global e-commerce competitor cannot compete with local same-day delivery.

“It is an opportunity for local e-commerce operations to win market share.”

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How does same-day delivery work?

Same day delivery gives online shoppers that same feeling of immediacy as a brick-and-mortar shop. In practice, to your customer, this appears as simply another delivery option that you offer during the checkout process.

It presents an opportunity to monetise the relationship with your best customers and tempt them to spend more. Same day delivery can also be offered on a membership model. A good example of this is Amazon prime or Coast’s VIP free deliveries upgrade. You can offer same day deliveries upgrade as a monthly subscription, which will increase customer loyalty and help you cover the price of your upgraded logistics.

These logistics can be done in-house or simply outsourced as an extension of your current delivery service to a company like Miles Express.

However, no matter how you chose to do it, its implications can have a massive impact on your business. According to invesp 61% of consumers are willing to pay more for same-day deliveries.

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Same-day delivery: short term business benefits

Extensive industry research shows that people who order same-day deliveries tend to also order more items and checkout with carts of a higher value.

What’s more, they also help prevent abandoned carts. The industry you’re in makes a difference but the statistics show a clear trend. Adding same-day delivery to your e-commerce site will stop people from abandoning their carts by as much as 41%

Here are some global statistics – the percentage of global online shoppers that will abandon a shopping cart if same-day delivery is not an option by sector:

• Flowers and gifts: 41%
• Computing and Software: 31%
• Office Supplies: 29%
• Clothing: 22%
• Sports equipment: 18%
• Health and Beauty: 18%
• Home items and Garden items: 16%

Can you imagine boosting your business by the percentage above? You can do it by adding a same-day delivery service.

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Can same-day deliveries work for your business?

In order to add same-day delivery to your current e-commerce operation, your logistics have to change, because it’s not quite as easy as speeding up your current process. There is a lot to keep in mind. Same-day delivery is a big opportunity for many retailers, but it does require logistical experience and know-how. You can also go for the easy option – easily outsource same-day delivery as an extra service which is paid for by the client. Industry research shows that people are willing to pay for it because they understand this takes effort on the company’s part. However only technologically advanced logistics partners will be able to provide you with a seamless same-day delivery service.

Miles Express was one of the first logistics companies in Malta to provide same-day delivery to their clients and has undergone substantial investment in becoming the leading provider in same-day deliveries.

As a seasoned provider, we have the flexibility and know-how to plug into your existing logistics and provide same-day delivery as an add-on.

There are however 4 requirements from our client’s side that enable us to provide same-day delivery services that run smoothly and delight customers:

• Product availability:
  All the products offered for same-day deliverability need to be available locally and currently in stock.
• Real-time product visibility:
  Your website needs to have real-time visibility of their stocks across all your channels such as website, warehouses and outlets.If this isn’t available, it will not be possible to establish if the products are available for same-day delivery during the checkout process. This means companies have to have the correct IT infrastructure in place.
• Fulfilment capacity:
  The packing of same-day delivery terms needs to be fast-tracked and prioritised over regular orders. This means some changes to your current internal logistics.
• Flexibility:
  Finally, your delivery partner needs to be adaptable enough to pick up and deliver orders ad hoc or multiple times throughout the day.

Once these 4 criteria have been implemented, same-day delivery turns into a pure game of scale.

If you want to offer same-day delivery but need to first discuss if it’s feasible for you, contact our team on (+356) 2124 0877 or click here to contact us.