3-Way Text Conversations Eliminate Last-Mile Delivery Exceptions

Can you create a failure-free last-mile delivery service?

Fast, frequent deliveries of consumer and business goods are expected by most consumers, determining market share, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. According to a Capgemini Last-Mile report, 82% of customers have shared positive delivery experiences with friends and family.

Yet, last-mile delivery can be a sink-hole of profitability and customer loyalty if done wrong. Data from a Convey (recently acquired by Project44) study, shows that it's the biggest cost driver - 40-50% of the overall logistics costs for an organization is in last mile logistics. And, 84% of consumers say they won’t return to a brand after just one poor delivery experience.

Perfect delivery experiences are hardly guaranteed. 11% of shipments encounter exceptions such as:

• Delays (Weather, traffic, schedule)
• Incorrect address
• Address Details missing (Apartment complex, building campus, entry information)
• Failed deliveries (customer not home)
• Damage/Shortage

5% of deliveries fail the first time with a cost per failed order averaging $17.78 according to research from Loqate. Costs include:

• Refunds of Delivery Charges
• Credits for issues
• Reverse logisting/Returns
• Re-delivery

Does your Exception process bend or break?

Many operations try to keep customers informed with notifications and ‘follow-me’ maps, but visibility is only a partial solution. Customers want a way to be, not just informed, but involved in their delivery. Despite notifications, customers keep calling in to customer support with concerns, questions, and, sometimes, critical information that needs to be shared with dispatch and drivers.

And, drivers keep calling in to dispatch with information they need to share with the customer or need from the customer. Often, when the driver needs to communicate with the customer, he faces the ‘four-point’ problem as his message is relayed from driver → dispatch → customer support → customer and back again. The alternative - driver ↔ customer direct communication - leaves customer support and dispatch in the dark while raising privacy issues for both drivers and customers.

Keep customers involved, not just informed.

What if every customer, driver, dispatcher, and support agent could communicate together instantly, reliably, and scalably about every delivery?

Riptide 3-way text messaging is an easy add-on to your delivery system that turns your ‘on-the-way’ delivery notification into a text conversation between your dispatcher, driver, and customer. Now, when an issue arises, everyone can collaborate through simple text messaging to resolve issues before they become service failures. See the scenarios Riptide fixes in the bullets below and how it works in this video:

Scenarios:

• Driver is unsure of the address? Ask the customer.
• Customer is not available to receive the package? Make other arrangements with the driver and dispatcher.
• Driver doesn’t know the gate code? Ask the customer.
• Customer has special instructions? Confirm with the driver and dispatcher
• Driver is running behind schedule? Coordinate a better time with the customer and dispatcher.
• Driver arrived to deliver the package but no one was home? Ask the customer and dispatcher for instructions.

Instead of just keeping customers informed, keep customers involved in their delivery experience. Enable drivers and dispatchers to team over text with transparent communication that keeps everyone in the loop.

The result? Exceptions that previously became failures now are resolved in minutes through conversation. Your last-mile delivery becomes failure-free!

Book a meeting with us and let's discuss how Riptide can start eliminating exceptions for your business!