The lockdown has disrupted every sector of the economy, including the disruption of the delivery industry. Warehouses were entirely shut down which caused breakdowns of entire logistics and supply chains. In 2020, eCommerce has to make significant changes in their last-mile delivery to keep up with their ongoing demand. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, eCommerce sales witnessed a surge like never before. Because of this, the last mile-delivery industry needed a tweak in the reorganization and reorient its services.
Shifts in the consumer’s behavior
Social distancing has forced a change in customer notions of shopping. The fear of the spread of the contagion coupled with the uncertainty of things returning to normalcy has encouraged people to adopt a new reality. A few weeks into the pandemic, contactless delivery was normalized. Similarly, the fact that drivers and delivery personnel started wearing masks comforted customers to trust the process.
Changes in last-mile delivery
The minimized contact between the delivery personnel and the customer has become part of the standard protocol. Contactless delivery also means that packages dropped at the door with no physical interaction between the customer and delivery person. As deliveries have become localized for both big and small retailers, there is a need for large warehouses that can centralize this process. Retailers and their partners are using technology to its full potential. At the same time, the dependency on drivers has also significantly increased.
While many of these changes driven by necessity, we can expect them to stick around for a long time. It is simply because most of them have proven to be disruptive concepts that have benefited retailers and consumers as well. It would be unwise to expect customers to go back to their old ways as these changes have become institutionalized.
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to our blog.
Our confirmation email includes link to download our app.
