How does Logistics affect your Retail Supply Chain Management?
When provided with different delivery options, what would you consider to be "fast delivery?” According to a study done by Invesp, about 96 percent of today's consumers consider fast delivery to mean same-day delivery. Another study has found that 61 percent of today's consumers would like even faster delivery options than that - preferably 1 hour to 3 hours after placing their orders. The rate that consumers are requesting faster delivery options is proof that a retailer's logistic operations will soon be required to be as precise, adaptable, and seamless as possible to keep up with competitors and to minimize the loss of sales that is caused due to running out of inventory. Did you know it is estimated that a loss of $125 billion each year is forfeited due to retail stores running out of stock? Also, the level of customer service that your customers expect from your company will continue to rise to meet the increasing expectation for consumers to receive their purchases with faster delivery options. The success of your logistic operations that handle your supply chain management will play a large role in not only meeting your customer's expectations but will also work to retain those customers to keep them coming back to you for future business.
Growth of ecommerce in retail supply chain trends
In the past few years, ecommerce has shown increasing growth in the number of sales made from online shopping and no one is expecting online shopping to slow down anytime soon. Amazon has made itself a household name due to the incredible level of customer service that they are providing to their customers. Consumers have now become acclimated to this level of service and to the level of attention that is geared towards the customer's needs. So much so that now all retail logistics is expected to keep up with this level of excellence. In regards to logistics, the 1-day shipping option shines above every other option that was once also considered the preferred shipping choice. This will lead to failures in the supply chain having a greater impact on your customer's satisfaction rating than the failure would have caused today because the customer's expectations of service to be provided will continue to rise with faster delivery options.
With online sales rising, we are watching the slow but imminent decline of the traditional brick and mortar storefront. This means fewer customers will leave their homes so that they can purchase your products from the inside of a retail store. As sales transactions are being slowly converted from in-store to online, you can expect more of your products to reach your customer's hands by truck instead of through the storefront. Due to the growing number of online purchases being made year after year, working with a trusted and reliable partner handling your logistics operations will relieve the stress of increasing pressure from demanding customers that want their products to arrive sooner and sooner. Freeing up your time, energy, and attention from aligning all the moving pieces of logistics management will allow you to be able to better appropriate those resources towards scaling your business for growth. Working with a carrier directly will also prove to be more profitable for your bottom line because you will find the areas in your operations that could be better streamlined together.
Logistics in Retail Industry
A retailer's success used to rely solely on their ability to bring their customers a desirable product and a matching customer experience which put all the responsibility of the success of the business into the hands of the retailer. Retailers would be able to retain their success with customers by being able to reproduce a positive customer experience by providing a face to face transaction inside of a store where all of the stock is displayed for customers to browse. Now and going forward, the retailer's ability to retain their customers for future purchases will be largely affected by the retailer's supply chain management being able to provide on-time delivery with no halts during movement in the supply chain. Factors such as the availability of stock, punctuality, proper product quality control, and the expenses of logistics will also play a large role in retaining a customer's loyalty to return for future business with the retailer.
With carriers becoming more responsible for attributing to customer retention, your relationship with the carrier you work directly with must have effective communication where the carrier understands your company's values and policies. You have to trust that they can bring solutions to the logistic needs of your supply chain instead of creating new problems for you. It's important to have a reliable and effective relationship with your carrier to make sure that the customers you've brought in thanks to your marketing dollars and marketing strategy will continue to return to you because your logistic operations are providing the level of service that is needed to retain those customers.
Transparency & trust
Trusting random carriers or brokers without knowing anything about them or their businesses can easily turn into a disaster. When you hire a broker to move your shipments, the broker will actively hunt for a carrier to transport your cargo at the lowest price they can find which can sometimes take days to find the cheapest carrier. Doing this allows the broker to walk away with a bigger portion for themselves. This leads to putting your cargo onto the equipment of the 84% of carriers operating with 2 trucks or less. More often than not, these carriers overlook failures in their equipment and safety regulations which leads to increased frequency of accidents and service failures caused during rush-critical shipments due to being put out of service by road patrol. The trucks in our fleet are in immaculate condition from mechanical to aesthetics from front to back because we take pride in making sure that your products arrive safely and arrive in style. Every time.
A leader in expedited shipments
Since the beginning, Migway decided that expedited shipments were going to be a staple of expertise for us and that we were going to perform this at a level that our customers would not only be impressed with but also would be glad to be a part of. We've fine-tuned our system for expedited shipping over the years and have purchased the correct equipment and hired top-tier drivers that have been trained in expedited safety.
Latest equipment and state-of-the-art technology
Our fleet is an incredible line-up of the newest trucks that can be purchased. We've done this to provide our customers and drivers the pride in knowing that the equipment is always pleasing to the eye and will perform with minimum liabilities. Our asset and logistics management software allow us to move your shipments seamlessly and effectively. Our real-time GPS tracking software and 24/7 point of contact give you the power to track your shipments whenever you need.
Through working with our retail partners, we have learned what needs a retailer brings to the table when working directly with a carrier. We understand that when the holiday season is approaching the logistic solutions we bring to you must be clear, efficient, and easy to coordinate for you. Our goal is to be flexible to assist you in making sure that your customers are never affected when there is a halt in your supply chain. We make sure that the right people in your organization are aware of changes that require your attention and the rest you leave up to us to take care of for you. For these reasons, we are always excited to receive 'Best Carrier' awards from our partners and customer. This year was special for us all because we were recognized as 2096th on the INC 5000 list for fastest-growing privately held companies and are excited to witness continued growth in the years to come.