Trends
The future of delivery
As brands explore ways to deliver their goods faster and more conveniently, here's your chance to do the same
New technologies are making it easier than ever to buy products with a click, tap or spoken word anytime, anywhere. And, as the speed of purchase accelerates, consumers expect rapid delivery too.
To answer the challenges involved in providing the faster, more resourceful delivery options customers expect, companies are looking at innovative ways of shipping parcels. But, as Office Team notes, these need to be cost-effective, practical and environmentally friendly.
So, what exactly does the future of delivery look like?
Subscription models
Amazon Prime is probably the most well-known subscription model. And it’s one of the biggest, with 85 million subscribers in the US as of June 2017. Research by Morgan Stanley found Prime members spend on average 4.6 times more than non-Prime members every year.
For customers, subscribing to these models opens up the delivery options available to them. Business Insider found 78% of Prime members signed up to the model for the free two-day shipping.
Discussing its own Delivery Saver scheme in 2012, Tesco’s online director, Eve Henrikson, explained: “[Fee-based delivery schemes] are born out of customer need and behaviour.”
Of course, delivery isn’t the only benefit Prime members enjoy. But a recent OC&C survey discussed by Retail Week found over half (57%) would continue membership if it only offered delivery benefits.
Same day delivery
As customer expectations have grown, so has same day delivery. A new report by consulting firm BRP found there’s been a huge surge in this delivery option.
Of those brands surveyed, 51% said they offer same day delivery, up from 16% last year. Understandably, more plan to get in on the action – with 65% aiming to offer the service to their customers within two years.
Drones
Amazon is quite the leader when it comes to innovative delivery options. In 2016, the company announced a partnership with the UK government to test the viability of delivering parcels by drones. That December it successfully trialled its first Prime Air drone delivery service in Cambridge, dropping off the goods in a customer’s garden.
But Amazon’s futuristic vision doesn’t stop there. The company has filed a patent for vertical drone centres that will accommodate the landing and take-off of drones in urban settings.
Driverless vehicles
Many car manufacturers are battling it out to become the first to offer autonomous vehicles. But retailers are also keen to get in on the action.
Ocado Technology and GATEway Project have been the first to trial autonomous grocery delivery in the UK. Dispatching orders to over 100 customers, the real-world trial will guide further roll-out in the future.
Over in the US, Domino’s and Ford have teamed up to conduct research in understanding the role of driverless vehicles in pizza delivery.
Stay Ahead
We’ll be exploring the future of delivery in more at our third Linney insight event, The Quarry.
‘Delivering the future’ will take place at our new Linney Create building on Thursday 19 October. It’s a chance to take an in-depth look at the delivery landscape with our own Insight team plus two guest speakers.
Founder and CEO of Academy of Robotics, William Sachiti, will delve into the world of on-demand delivery. The Academy of Robotics has developed a driverless car that delivers multiple packages to different addresses, autonomously. It aims to pilot Kar-go on UK roads in the first quarter of 2018. According to McKinsey & Company’s ‘Parcel delivery: The future of last mile’ report, autonomous vehicles will deliver 80% of all items within the next decade. Kar-go aims to be at the forefront of this technological and logistical revolution.
Meanwhile, Parcelly’s CEO, Sebastian Steinhauser, will discuss the impact of the ‘Now’ Generation. In a recent interview with eDelivery, Steinhauser noted: “59% of consumers are less likely or unlikely to order from a retailer again if they have faced difficulties with the delivery of their online purchases.”
Steinhauser’s award-winning app puts the control back into the customers’ hands, so they never have to miss a delivery again. This technology meets consumer demands, reduces driver destinations for delivery companies, and increases efficiency for logistic companies. With click and collect set to have a market value of £4bn by 2018 in the UK, this pioneering technology brings the future of delivery to the present day.
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