Online shopping is definitely on the rise these days. To a large extent, it’s safe to say the pandemic has served e-commerce companies on a golden platter. In 2019 alone, Amazon shipped over 2.5 billion packages. That was before the virus hit. The top e-commerce store on the planet has been making a lot more deliveries these days. So much so that the online giant was running out of resources trying to deliver 415 million packages in July 2020.
If you’re thinking Amazon is having a good time, you may have to think again. The Jeff Bezos-led company may have increased its value a couple of times over during the pandemic (making its founder the richest on the planet), but all that came with a number of challenges—specifically, tons of delivery challenges. Recently, for instance, Amazon has come under fire for denying that its drivers have experienced peeing in water bottles just to get their deliveries on time. The A-to-Z store has since apologized for the controversy.
All these tell you that looking for alternative options to online deliveries is wise. That should help ease your burden in doing business online. Indeed, relying on the current system of handling door-to-door delivery via human hands may not cut it. A better approach can free you of too much reliance on human hands and human error.
Drone Delivery
Think of the advantages of drone delivery. For one, you won’t need human hands to deliver the goods physically. You won’t even need a road. The sky is the biggest freeway on the map. Indeed, it is the fastest way to go from point A to point B. That means you can deliver more at faster rates.
The advantages are overwhelming. For instance, with speedy deliveries, you’re assured of faster deliveries of AED to deal with cardiac arrest. No roads and traffic mean less downtime.
It’s no surprise that Amazon Prime Air, Amazon’s drone-based delivery business, has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to deliver packages via drones. The company now belongs to an elite club of FAA-approved drone delivery businesses, including Wing (Google’s drone delivery) and UPS Flight Forward.
The advantages of drone delivery are plenty. First, as mentioned earlier, there’s speed. Secondly, it’s eco-friendly. Unlike usual truck delivery, drones run on lithium polymer batteries and don’t have to use degenerative carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Best of all, drones will cost you far less than when you have packages delivered in person.
To date, over one million drones are operating in the United States today. Take note, however, that not all drones are fit for delivery work. To ensure you’re getting more bang for your buck, rely on the best American-made commercial drones to fulfill your deliveries.
Access Points Pick-ups
The pandemic has shown how online shopping has become more of a rule rather than an exception. As many homeowners are staying and working from home, door-to-door delivery has become seamless now more than ever. Even with all that convenience, a host of issues still arise.
Top of that list is availability. What happens if the customer who ordered the product is always out of town or the client is not there at the address listed when the product arrives? The issue of coordination on when to drop a package weighs heavily on a delivery driver who must meet the daily quota. This is definitely a problem if the shopper is frequently out of town.
The solution? Access point pick-ups. The concept is simple. A package is delivered to an access point nearby. Then, the shopper is notified, so he or she can get it at the most convenient time.
Access points solve a lot of problems. First, the delivery trucks just have one access point to deliver to for a particular neighborhood. No more time wasted on delivering door to door. That also means less fuel that produces eco-harmful carbon. On the part of the customers, you also get added convenience. That means you can get the package at your most convenient time. Plus, you need not worry about your package being delivered when you’re not around. Everything is taken care of.
Proper Documentation Matters
To facilitate an effective, seamless delivery, critical information must be shared. To boot, customers should specify what access point is best for them. So, shoppers need to determine their delivery points upon checkout. Additionally, they should provide the needed contact information.
To facilitate the delivery, text and email alerts are given automatically. The same holds true for drone delivery. When data is in order, getting the product to where it’s needed can be a walk in the park. That speaks volumes on the kind of online business you’re running.
With the growing demand for e-commerce, businesses are looking for efficient and novel solutions to get their products delivered to customers. The alternative methods that have emerged during this time indicate that this industry is booming. To keep up with the competition, it is ideal that you find the logistics that work for your business.
