The usual behavior of going to a store to buy something no longer describes the average customer for many day-to-day products. Many consumers now only shop online, and incidentally, many businesses give their customers additional advantages for doing so.


Online shopping proves preferable in these cases due to better prices, greater comparison of prices between vendors, and the array of different products available. Businesses which provide customers with an e-commerce solution now have an additional liability when fulfilling orders: the assured delivery of the ordered product. Typically, order fulfillment through traditional means works, but some notable problems with these means are lost packages, theft, and shipping delays.


Companies and shipping providers work to provide their customers with dependable service and they have developed a variety of methods to solve common problems with simple solutions. In the next five years, most common delivery methods will incorporate these ideas as viable changes to provide convenience, security, and reliability for consumers. Read the text to better understand this scenario.


The Ideas


Many large distributors and delivery services focus on providing customers with a choice of where to accept their deliveries. This idea derives from the importance of ensuring customers know where their package is and where it arrived.


There are three proposals:



  • Allow customers to set up delivery lockers which only delivery carriers and the customer have keys to.

  • Allow carriers to enter customer homes and leave the package inside.

  • Allow carriers to open customer cars and leave the package in the trunk.


Each of these proposals attempts to address convenience, security, and reliability for customer order fulfillment with regards to the final delivery to the customer.


Convenience


Delivery lockers and delivery inside of homes and cars have the potential to provide exceptional convenience for the customer. With delivery lockers, customers have the ability to choose a time to pick up their package according to their schedule, instead of dealing with the inconveniences of scheduling a time to be available to sign for it.


Customers can also choose to have their package waiting for them at home, at their office, or at a locker conveniently located in another location they often travel to; the options are quite versatile. Consumers shop online because of the immense convenience, and when businesses allow order fulfillment to be truly convenient and personalized, they will likely please more customers.


Businesses are very likely to be transitioning to support these kinds of deliveries because they not only satisfy their customers, but these deliveries also provide businesses with the assurance that the product was truly delivered to the customer.


Security


Package theft off porches and from mailboxes makes shopping online frustrating, to say the least. It leaves a bad mark on businesses with regards to customers, and businesses must go the extra mile to win customers back. By using delivery lockers and at-home/ in-car delivery methods, businesses show their customers that order fulfillment is a top priority. While some people might not appreciate at-home/ in-car delivery, they still have the option to use a delivery locker. These methods assure, however, that delivery of package occurs precisely with the customer.


Delivery lockers work by providing access only to a delivery carrier and the customer. When the customer arrives, he or she uses her smartphone to open the locker and retrieve their item. In-home and in-car delivery works similarly, but the delivery carrier uses his or her smartphone equipped with a one-time, digital key to open a customer’s car trunk or front door.


Delivery companies record the time that the door or trunk opens to when it closes. They use this as a means to monitor the actions of the carriers and to safeguard against inappropriate behavior.


Reliability


These systems inherently provide reliable service. Because packages are left in secure locations, customers can retrieve them when they need, without concern. They also provide delivery drivers common locations to drop off deliveries, instead of needing to learn new routes or make additional stops; the efficiency is enhanced all around. As a result, businesses and customers will enjoy reliable order fulfillment.


Businesses will find in the next few years that delivery methods are going to be different. They will see customers wanting more convenient, secure, and reliable methods of delivery through lockers, in their homes, or in their cars. These new methods will give businesses additional leverage when fulfilling their customers’ orders, which will have a positive impact on sales overall as a result of the increased efficiency and service.