The Wider Impact of 24/7 Deliveries

Time is more important than money for many consumers and businesses these days. This is evident with a rise in ecommerce, delivery and logistics companies expanding to offer 24/7 delivery options. Research has shown that 26% of online shoppers abandon purchases due to long shipping times, which has motivated many businesses to add same day and 24/7 delivery services to their offering.

While this introduction will greatly benefit consumers, it is shaking up the delivery and logistics industries with various impacts.

Delivery Providers

The main impact of introducing more 24/7 delivery services will be on delivery providers, whether couriers, logistics or delivery management companies. A greater stress will be introduced with the requirement for a quicker turnaround and more availability and flexibility.

Delivery providers will be forced to change their business model to cope with the changing demand. Consumer and business data can be analysed here to get a better overview of when the most popular delivery times are when 24/7 services are available. Then this can be incorporated to have enough drivers and other staff on during these periods to cope with demand, rather than simply increasing running costs by employing more staff in general.

Supply Chains

It’s not just the delivery company that will be under more pressure with 24/7 delivery introductions. Everyone involved in each step of the supply chain will need to be prepared to adapt to meet a greater, stricter demand. From an ecommerce company processing a customer’s order to it being picked and packaged, collected from the distribution centre and delivered, every step needs to be cohesive.

Last mile delivery can be the most expensive and stressful part of the supply chain, delivering goods from a regional distribution centre or store to a consumer’s door. It can cost up to 30% of total delivery but also encounter issues when deliveries are made 24/7 but still the customer is not home. This slows down the supply chain, which can add to the costs and time if items then need to be redelivered.   

Growing Customer Expectations

The rise of ecommerce and the increasing delivery options offered by competing businesses has resulted in growing customer expectations. Not so long ago you would struggle to have anything delivered on a Sunday, but these days that’s less of an issue. By offering consumers more choice when it comes to delivery options (same day, next day, 24/7, time specific, certain locations etc.) not only is it securing their business but it’s increasing their expectations for future orders.

While this should increase customer loyalty if they know their delivery requirements will be met, their patience in the future may be diminished especially if there is an issue. Bank holidays, supply chain problems and even the weather could affect 24/7 deliveries and if higher consumer expectations aren’t met it could result in a loss of business.

Again, such data can be collected and analysed to determine the peak times, products, demographics and more for 24/7 deliveries to impact future offerings.

Innovations to Meet Demand

To meet the growing demand for 24/7 deliveries and especially last mile, many delivery providers are introducing or trialling new innovations. Already more delivery lockers are popping up to make 24/7 deliveries easier and cut out any potential problems with customers not being in to receive them. The same is true with more local shops accepting parcel deliveries and dedicated parcel shops such as Doddle appearing.

One of the latest ideas is in-car deliveries, such as Amazon Key. These use connected technologies to allow a delivery driver to open a consumer’s vehicle to drop off the parcel delivery when the recipient is at work, for example. So far this is only being trialled in the USA, but if results are positive, expect to see it rolled out elsewhere in the future.

At Whistl we are moving to incorporate Saturday and Sunday deliveries to meet growing demand too. Get started with Whistl whether you’re interested in mail or parcel delivery, leaflet distribution or fulfilment within the UK or overseas.