A better view: how aggregated delivery data will smooth out the delivery process

The logistics industry has benefitted enormously from the rise of ecommerce and the need for deliveries not only to warehouses but to the front door of the consumer.

In the UK alone it is predicted that online retail will represent 15 per cent of the economy by 2017 so the opportunity is growing. The sector is still relatively young, yet consumers delivery expectations and the sheer number of orders are exceeding the rate at which logistics organisations can keep up.

One of the largest challenges is how to measure delivery performance across international borders, via different means of transport and sometimes using a number of different carriers. Too frequently a logistics manager will be faced simply with the fact that a package has arrived late and that a customer is unhappy, without necessarily being able to pinpoint where the problem has arisen.

What can be done? New technologies now allow data to be collected from every stage of an individual delivery to be aggregated in order to compose a full picture of where the best and worst elements of a service are occurring.  It’s not good enough just to measure between the time a package leaves the warehouse and when it arrives at its destination; logistics and warehouse managers need to be gathering data about each individual event in the process and identifying any areas that need attention.

By analysing the tracking live data from carriers in this way, combined with feedback from the end consumers, carriers and logistics managers have an invaluable insight into the levels of service offered both during delivery and for returns. In France, where this initiative started, service levels of particular carriers can be pinpointed in minute detail, even down to individual postcodes, so each delivery, no matter how far afield, can be planned centrally according to the most effective route. For the carriers themselves, the data provides them with a valuable way in which to differentiate themselves. It also means that different service level agreements can be negotiated for each step of the delivery process.

It isn’t simply a question of carrier information either. Delivery times are frequently measured from the time of receipt at the carrier’s warehouse to the final delivery with the consumer.  By adding in data supplied by the retailer, it’s easy to identify where any other “invisible” delays may be occurring, such as a gap between the retailer’s handover of the parcel and its time of arrival with the carrier. Information like this can transform the ability of a logistics manager to pre-empt and remedy any delivery issues.

Eventually, all the data collected will be used to establish an international, independent benchmark – named the QS Benchmark - which will provide a transparent and accurate record of performance levels across all delivery suppliers and across international borders. Already established in France, this is now launching in the UK in 2016 before extending it further across the continent.

Florent Aonon is Head of UK Sales at ITinSell, which provides shipment management solutions for online retailers and logistics companies. www.itinsell.com.