Pandemic and Last Mile Logistics

The outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has severely affected several businesses and economy as a whole worldwide. Businesses started to reevaluate their business models in order to cope and continue to stay in touch with their consumers. The crisis has been a wakeup call for every business to step out of their comfort zones and become an agile organization and adopt extensive use of technology to mitigate the impact.

But on the other hand, the pandemic resulted in a sudden and chaotic spike in the demand for online deliveries. With lockdowns in place and people practicing social distancing, majority have been spending most of their time at home glued to their computers or mobile phones.To prevent the spread, further strict measures included closure of manufacturing units, retail outlets and malls, which led to rise in demand for home deliveries of all sorts of goods including essential grocery items. Due to this companies had to adapt to new ways and the ‘new normal’ and people needed to relearn how to organize their routines.

The ‘New Normal’

If one was to look at the bright side and take away the positives from this unprecedented situation, the pandemic gave birth to new ideas for a modern world. It helped accelerate business models that have only been under discussion for a long time now and agility in business became inevitable to survive. Moreover, the use of technology and collaboration took a significant role in the construction of ‘new normal’ which is essential for businesses to sustain and grow.

Shifting and conducting business online lead to wider acceptance of online services, increased requirement for digital services in conventional industries and the need for digital connectivity amongst various sectors. Furthermore, service providers took this turning point to digitize their processes and develop platforms to offer their products/services online.

This rapidly shifting consumer and business behavior pushed last-mile logistic companies to also adapt and make deliveries fast, flexible, safe and efficient.

The Impact of COVID on Last-Mile Delivery

With the rise in demand for online deliveries, businesses with owned delivery systems had a big advantage over others that didn’t. They set about adding capacity, extending work hours, and even branching out into more products. And businesses that didn’t possess their own delivery capabilities focused on improving their business while leaning heavily on third-party service providers as a primary channel to reach their customers.The systems worldwide were overcome with pressure unlike any that had been seen before.

Here are some key changes and how they’ve impacted the last-mile delivery landscape:

• ‍Accelerated online shopping: Even before the pandemic, e-commerce trend was already on the rise. But with sudden radical shift in consumer behavior in the face of lockdown, the growth of e-commerce was faster than anyone ever anticipated or was prepared for. Even those who were reluctant to shop online shifted to it and experts believe that this behavior will be long lasting even after the pandemic is over.‍

• Safety precautions taken: In order to ensure employee and customer safety, organizations including last-mile logistics companies have had to implement increased sanitation and social distancing policies. Measures like disinfection of parcels, scattered timing for employees and contractors in warehouses, removing signature requirement, etc. were taken.Focus on safety is important in order to strengthen the business in long-term.‍

• Technology and automation: Decreasing human interaction as a part of strict SOPS and less traffic during lockdowns improved efficiency and the speed of deliveries. But this state was not going to last forever therefore, in order to improve their services and efficiency, companies had to resort to technology like driver and tracking apps and automation. There’s a lot of room for innovative technologies in logistics industry with the accelerated growth in online shopping.‍

• Types of deliveries: During the pandemic, we witnessed changes and addition of different types of goods and their quantities being delivered. Besides regular retail items, there has been a significant increase in deliveries of grocery items and medical supplies such as masks, gloves and even medicines. Besides that, with the closure of eateries, delivery of meal kits and food significantly increased. And it’s expected to continue beyond the pandemic too.‍

• The sustainability factor: The pandemic 2020 has increased the possibility of less-traffic in future and improvement in carbon emissions.In New York alone, pollution level dropped by nearly half during the pandemic. Hence, to continue to sustain the clean environment, cities could embrace digital solutions like geo fencing and congestion charging. It could also include EVs, deliveries at marginal times, designated parking areas for delivery vehicles, as well as strong mechanisms to been forced regarding second-lane parking and overall traffic.

Last But Not Least

The last-mile delivery is complex, costly, and crucial. All the stakeholders in the ecosystem are under pressure to act and benefit from the changes ahead as a massive disruption in supply chains has led to people spending more time on e-stores than in brick and mortar.Tech-savvy solutions and conduct will remain crucial to the success of retailers as well as last-mile logistics companies.

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