Understanding the Impact of Delivery Management Products, Part 1

Internal fleets that rely on a whiteboard, excel sheets, paper manifests, or a third-party fleet management tool for delivery fulfillments may be missing out on growing their business. And they’re certainly spending more energy than necessary on a process that could be much easier.

At some point, you’ve probably thought about offering same-day delivery services to enhance your business and make your customers happy. McKinsey & Company asked and answered the question, “How will same-day and on-demand delivery evolve in urban markets?” 

“Brick-and-mortar retailers and parcel giants may have advantages that move them in the pole position to win in same-day delivery. However, they are not yet fully equipped to provide the supercharged, digitally enabled same-day experience that consumers want and that pioneers like Amazon or Zalando are keen to offer. To compete, they’ll need to enhance their operations (especially through digital enablement).” 

What Does Delivery Management Provide?

Delivery management factors in the entire delivery process, not just one component. It’s a practical tool to make your day more efficient by providing the following benefits:

• Increases visibility into deliveries and drivers
• Produces an enhanced level of customer service and transparency
• Allows for easy planning of your daily routes
• Reduces internal fleet fuel and maintenance costs
• Gives your business a scalable model for growth
• Enables you to keep up with your competitors
• Provides timely deliveries that customers have come to expect
  

Dispatch Connect gives your customers visibility into their orders, empowers your drivers with route efficiencies, and equips you with the option to use the Dispatch Marketplace for overflow or other sized deliveries. 

Dispatch offers two different Connect tier subscriptions: Connect Starter and Connect Professional. Let’s dive into all of the features Connect offers.

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Delivery vs. Fleet Management Breakdown

There are often misconceptions when it comes to what fleet management software offers and how that differs from a delivery management software. The delivery management descriptions outlined below are based on Dispatch Connect’s current offerings. 

Key differences:

1. Fleet management focuses on your vehicles. Delivery management focuses on the package and customer.
   

2. With fleet management, you’re tracking your vehicles. With delivery management, you’re tracking your deliveries — the most important element in customer satisfaction.
   

3. With fleet management, recipient communications on order details are rare or a very manual process. Across Connect, teams can communicate with ease. Recipients are sent SMS and email notifications on order updates. This allows visibility for your customer and provides them with the order updates they expect.
   

4. Fleet management focuses on the vehicle’s life cycle: fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc. Delivery management focuses on the life cycle of the package: delivery parameters, order tracking, routing, and drivers.
   

5. When using fleet management, you are limited to your internal vehicles for all deliveries. When using delivery management via Connect, you can outsource your overflow deliveries to the Dispatch Marketplace and use all available options to complete your deliveries.
   

6. Fleet management tools often cause you to address your delivery management process reactively, whereas delivery management software allows you to be proactive. 
   

7. Fleet management is less intuitive and has basic capabilities. Connect’s delivery management platform has an easy-to-use interface, and the benefits are numerous.‍

Click here to download the Delivery vs. Fleet Management infographic.

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How Can Dispatch Help Get You There?

Dispatch Connect gives you a digital, easy-to-understand solution for delivery management across your entire fleet. A centralized system that includes everyone involved in the delivery life cycle, Connect streamlines internal and external communications between you, your drivers, and your customers. Plus, it enhances the entire customer experience — ensuring customers receive their deliveries as quickly as they've come to expect in recent years.

With Dispatch Connect, you'll gain visibility into the status of every delivery — enabling you to connect the dots between your business, your drivers, your customers, and your bottom line.

Contact us to continue the conversation, learn more, or for a complimentary demo today.

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Follow the link to read the full McKinsey & Company article.