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Nowadays, you would find almost every field of business implementing digitization and the main purpose is to improve the services and enhance the human experience by using the right technology to provide the resources. 

The courier and logistics industry is no different from other industries and is using technology to improve its services and customer satisfaction level. Courier and logistics companies from around the world are using the latest technology and practices to improve their already existing services and operation with digitalization and as a result, they are getting key benefits from the digitization process such as Improved supply chain management, enhanced visibility, reduced delivery time, realtime updates on shipments, advanced tracking & lower product returns are some of the benefits that the courier and logistics companies are getting just by the implementation of digital technology into their business. 

Here is a brief look at some of the ways by which  courier & logistics companies are using the latest trends and technology to improve their logistics services to satisfy their customers around the globe:

Online delivery platform 

Courier and Logistics Companies such as XpressBees, Trackon, etc are making it easier for consumers by providing an online delivery platform through their websites and mobile apps. Through these, the consumers can enter the delivery details of a shipment and the automated services calculator will calculate and tell the fare depending on the details entered. The customers can also have their parcel picked up from home by providing the pickup & delivery information. The courier company will pick up the parcel from the pickup location and deliver it to its designated destination. This online system makes the whole process much easier and simple for the consumers as they can do all of this through their mobile phones.

Better Tracking & Visibility

Another implementation of digitalization by the courier and logistics companies is that parcels & shipments are tagged with barcodes or active tags. These tags make it easier for both the courier companies and the customers to track their parcels and get real-time information about them. Not only does it help the customers by providing a quick and transparent way to check out the status of their parcel or shipment but it is also helping these companies to reduce the transit times for the delivery.

Analytics for parcels

Through online platforms, it is becoming much easier and simpler for courier companies to gather and analyze data. For example, a courier company can easily collect and analyze the data for the total number of parcels delivered in a day, week, month, or any time duration and along with this, they can also analyze other information such as parcel delivery rate, average time for delivering a parcel, the cost of parcel delivery, the total number of locations served, etc.

This data could be crucial for a courier company and help focus on the area in which it is weak or struggling. For example, if a company has a huge parcel return rate then with the help of this data, the company would be able to improve its services by setting automatic notifications and triggers to deliver the parcels on time. 

Agent Tracking

Apart from easy parcel & shipment tracking, online systems can also help logistic companies by keeping a record of all their agents. Through the online system, the performance of every agent can be tracked with all the parcels and shipments he has delivered, workloads, average time for delivering a parcel, on-time delivery ratio, etc. This data is very important for a company and it will help the company eliminate any non-serious agents in the company in an attempt to provide better services to the customers.

Decrease High Product Return Rate

A High Product Return Rate is bad for business and not only does it make the customers unhappy but it also drastically affects the reputation of the courier company. Through the online system, each order can be tracked individually; parcels returned can be tracked online & analyze the reason why it was returned. It can be because of customers or agents why the product was returned. This analysis of data through online data can help reduce the product return rate, which is beneficial for both the courier company and the customers.

Providing Personalized Offers

The courier and logistics companies offer personalized offers to customers such as same-day delivery for selected locations, weekend delivery, overnight parcels, corporate booking, and express delivery services, etc. For courier companies, marketing of these offers has become much easier since the companies can offer these through websites and apps and also, the tracking of customers served is also possible and depending on the loyalty score of a customer, the company can provide personalized discounts to its customers.

With the digital wave spreading across the world and redefining how the industries work, the courier industry has also embraced the change and is shifting towards making most of the things digitalized.

Digital services like parcel pick-up & drop, warehousing, inventory management, order management, parcel tagging, analytics, etc are maximizing efficiency and provide real-time visibility of pick-up, delivery of parcels, optimize the delivery routes, facilitate on-time delivery, and higher customer satisfaction. The rules of the courier & logistics industry and how they operate have certainly changed with digitization.