Last-Mile Carriers and Their Benefits to Retail Businesses

Any business that ships products to customers must contend with the “last mile” of the delivery process. The last mile is the distance between a distribution centre and the customer’s door. It can also be the most expensive and logistically challenging part of the delivery process. That’s why many businesses are turning to last-mile carriers to help them get their products to customers quickly and efficiently.

We learned over the pandemic of Covid-19 that supply chains and logistics experienced a huge upheaval and disruption. This allowed for an increased trend of e-commerce demand, which created a demand for reliable and fast delivery options. Understanding the fulfillment process is a critical part of our path forward, with a better process to help carriers, shippers, vendors and forwarders with their short term and long term delivery goals.

Learn more about last-mile carriers, their benefits and what variables this process can impact businesses along the way. 

What Are Last-mile Carriers?

Last-mile carriers are third-party logistics providers specializing in handling the delivery process’s last mile. They have the infrastructure and resources to address the last mile’s challenges, including traffic, congestion, and limited parking. This lets businesses focus on their core competencies and leave the last mile to the experts.

How Can Last-mile Carriers Benefit Retail Businesses?

1. Last-mile Carriers Improves Customer Satisfaction

In today’s business world, the customer is always right. This is especially true when it comes to shipping and logistics. Businesses that don’t provide their customers with the best possible shipping experience quickly lose out to their competitors.

This is where last-mile carriers come in. Last-mile carriers have a lot to offer businesses and customers alike. They can provide businesses with a cost-efficient way to ship their products and offer customers a convenient way to receive their purchases.

In addition, last-mile carriers can improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that packages are delivered on time and in good condition.

2. Last-mile Carriers Provide a Competitive Advantage

Many retailers and E-commerce companies are now using last-mile carriers as shipping providers to provide a better customer experience and to gain a competitive edge. Last-mile pages can provide a faster and more reliable delivery service than traditional carriers. This means that the delivery time can often be quite a bit shorter in delivery time of said products.

Last-mile carriers can also offer a more personalized service to customers. They can often provide a tracking number and updates on the status of a delivery. This level of transparency and customer service is not always possible with traditional carriers.

Overall, last-mile carriers provide many advantages to retailers and e-commerce companies. They can offer a faster, more reliable, and more personalized delivery service than traditional carriers. With a goal to provide a superior customer experience and gain a competitive edge, FMi sets the standard for customer journey.

Creating a faster response to disruptions that could happen allow for a seamless delivery experience.

3. Last-mile Carriers Work with Top-Notch Technology

As the world progresses, the demand for faster and more efficient transportation services increases. This is especially true in the case of last-mile carriers responsible for delivering goods to customers’ doorsteps. To keep up with the demand, last-mile carriers need to work with top-notch technology.

Last-mile carriers’ most popular technologies include GPS tracking, real-time monitoring, and route optimization software. Software programs for transportation management systems allow for realtime data collection and management, creating visibility on tracking, networking, dispatch, documentation and quoting; creating a collaborative network across carriers, vendors and customers.

GPS tracking allows carriers to keep track of their vehicles at all times. Real-time monitoring allows them to see where their vehicles are and what they are doing at any given moment, allowing the company to track safety and security for their customers. Finally, route optimization software helps carriers to plan the most efficient routes for their vehicles, saving time and money.

Savings Across Fuel and Resource for Sustainable Options

With the climate variables impacting businesses, sustainable options within the last-mile services are vital to the success of this leg of the journey. The financial cost and environmental impact, costs continue to rise, so utilizing last-mile carriers as a third party remains to be a cost efficient solution to the growing demand of transportation method.

Utilizing third party last-mile carriers allow for a reduction of fuel, time , reduced emissions and gives access to more options. This leaves a lasting impression for our carriers, vendors and customers across the board.

Collaboration and Affordable Delivery Options

National shippers need help at times, so being able to rely on local experts as each market is unique to the logistic conditions. This allows for both small and large companies to connect and utilize your network to access fast and reliable shipping. These partnerships can assist in lowering the overall last-mile costs and ensure deliveries are made on time, in full, even when the delivery needs rise.

Final Thoughts

Last-mile carriers play an important role in retail businesses by providing the final delivery of goods to customers. They offer many benefits to retail businesses, including increased customer satisfaction, lower costs, and improved efficiency as a whole.

If you need freight outsourcing services to help you meet business demands, contact us at FMi Logistics today. We offer high-quality transportation services from Calgary, Toronto, and the rest of Canada. Message us for an estimate today.