The pandemic has led to the emergence of a robust delivery management system, one that allows everything to happen in a trice. And it’s exactly what the customers want today; satisfactory deliveries powered by real-time information, feedback forms, emailers with regular updates, instant alerts and notifications, and whatnot.
We’ve seen the on-demand industry gradually evolve over the years, but the progress in the past year has been revolutionary. Irrespective of the kind of business or the business scale you are operating on, every business now needs a super-efficient delivery management system to facilitate enhanced operational management and higher customer engagement.
So, even if you run a small business but have a ton of things to manage in a day; right from scheduling to the final dispatch, there’s nothing more helpful than integrating a delivery management system. Here are some reasons why you should definitely be using one for your business.
What is Delivery Management Software?
Delivery management software (DMS) is a digital tool used for planning, scheduling, managing, optimizing, and executing increasingly complex dispatch activities. The delivery management system provides a centralized communication model that connects everyone in the delivery cycle to make deliveries as fast, transparent, and efficient as possible. With features like route optimization, automated dispatching, and scheduling, reverse logistics, robust customer support system, and ePOD, the DMS is capable of improving the delivery operations of all kinds of organizations, regardless of their size, scale, or industry.
Key Benefits of Using Delivery Management Software
1. Streamlining & Automation:
Faster and efficient operations help businesses scale. The state-of-the-art delivery management system cuts down on the number of steps in the delivery workflow by automating the operations, right from automated scheduling, dispatching, warehouse management to final dispatch.
This eliminates the need for error-ridden spreadsheets, hours and hours of manual activities, and thousands of phone calls. It streamlines and fastens the entire process, giving managers the clarity that is required for critical logistics operations. In addition to this, a powerful DMS like Tookan also enhances transparency with increased visibility into daily operations.
2. Real-time Tracking:
Monitoring the whereabouts of your delivery agents and giving them directions based on their availability and location is quite a task. And when done manually, it doubles the time, cost, and resources. However, with efficient delivery management software in place, you can get real-time and accurate drivers information.
This way, managers will be able to track the total distance covered by the drivers, and the time is taken per-day deliveries and available slots. Real-time tracking also helps managers to look into the unanticipated delays due to vehicle breakdowns, weather reasons, etc., and re-assign deliveries to the agent closest to the delivery location.
3. Route Optimization
The delivery management software picks the fastest and the most efficient routes for its delivery agents for maximum fleet efficiency. The best routes are decided based on factors, like traffic conditions, location proximity, and the driver’s availability. The map is displayed on the DMS dashboard of both the driver and the admin in charge. This feature helps businesses to make more deliveries smartly and in much less time, which ultimately helps you meet your business objectives.Â
4. Efficient Order Management
The end-to-end visibility into delivery operations improves the order management process.
The dispatch team uses a super-efficient interface to schedule deliveries, pick-ups and assign/re-assign deliveries to the drivers. With a delivery management system in place, you don’t need to scan thousands of spreadsheet entries.
For this, you need a delivery management system that offers an amazing interface for everyone involved in the delivery cycle- agents, customers, and dispatchers.
For instance, Tookan offers an easy-t0-use dashboard with a complete overview of all orders, and this is where you instantly get updated in case of any potential delays. The kind of speed and information that the system provides minimize the risk of errors which results in better ROI.
5. No Dependency on Delivery Aggregators
The advent of delivery management systems like Tookan has replaced the need for delivery aggregators to match the ever-evolving customer preferences. Businesses now save substantial business costs and time by hiring the right delivery management software for their services.
The order management feature and real-time driver information help you get a good grip on your dispatch operations. With a DMS, businesses have become more self-sufficient. With a simple software solution; they now get every update which helps them to keep track of everything for maximum returns.
6. Cost Efficient & Timely Deliveries
By automating tasks, you no longer need to make manual entries and make thousands of calls in a day. The use of DMS reduces the operational cost and saves both time and resources, while also eliminating the risk of errors and discrepancies. With such an efficient delivery management system, you make a good profit, which helps you achieve your organizational goals faster.
7. Insightful Business Analytics
Gaining business insights is critical for business growth. In order to learn how well the business is performing, you need some key parameters and patterns. The delivery management software is equipped with analytics tools that help you form insights and make informed decisions.
The DMS gives you an easy grasp of historical data of all orders, customers, and deliveries. In addition to the historical trends and patterns, it helps you predict future delivery needs and identify other performance growth indicators such as the right time and month to boost your products/services. This improves the results of your marketing campaigns and improves operations.
8. Better Communication
A strong communication model is critical for business growth. Dispatch management software strengthens the coordination amongst different departments by providing an easy communication model.
With enhanced communication, the delivery agents know the delivery guidelines for every individual order without relying on any pre-written notes. Everything that they need to know is on their delivery app. The effective communication channel embedded in the delivery management software also provides real-time alerts and notifications that are highly appreciated and valued by customers.
9. Customer Satisfaction:
The on-demand economy is driven by the ever-evolving customer expectations such as instant alerts and notifications, same-day, same-hour deliveries. So, in order to keep pace with ever-evolving requirements and stay ahead in this business, you need a delivery management system that will keep everyone in the loop and reduce both the cost and waiting time, the two key indicators of high customer satisfaction. Customers value the extra effort brands put in to improve communication, which increases customer loyalty.
For example, once the order reaches the respective warehouse, the customers are automatically notified that they can expect the order the next day. A simple alert such as “your order has been shipped,” communicates the expected time and day of the delivery.
10. Maximum Customer Retention
From sending regular updates to providing a robust 24*7 customer support system, the delivery management software aims for maximum customer satisfaction. Customers appreciate nothing more than reliable services, genuine products, on-time deliveries, and honest communication, and they might even recommend your platform to others based on these factors. By cultivating a bond of trust with customers, the delivery management software improves customer retention and loyalty which is extremely important for business sustainability.
Business Use-cases of Delivery Management Software
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Even if you run a small business, it isn’t a good idea to execute the last-mile deliveries with a few vehicles and no execution plan. The delivery management system saves a substantial business cost for small businesses by optimizing routes and handling more deliveries regardless of limited resources. On the other hand, if you’re operating on a relatively bigger scale, the software will give you the right tools to expand your services while maintaining the same level of control and visibility across all delivery stages.
Enterprises
If your organization is already running at maximum capacity, then you must have powerful delivery management software for long-term sustainability. The new offerings and state-of-the-art dispatch technologies will enable a significant level of customization and customer support that will only take your business to new heights. For instance, reverse logistics is as crucial to the business as standard deliveries, therefore if you don’t have a powerful reverse logistics set-up yet, go for a feature-rich dispatch network that already has one.
Industry-specific use cases of Delivery management software
The use of dispatch networks isn’t limited to a specific industry. A variety of companies use delivery management software that can be tailor-made for all kinds of business requirements. Check out the complete list of business use-cases here.
– Food and Beverage
– E-commerce and Retail
– Pharmaceutical and healthcare
– Fleet Management
– Transport Management
– Services (Beauty, home services, cleaning services, etc.)
– Healthcare and Fitness
Are you ready to step up your game?
Now that you’re ready to step up your game in the on-demand industry, it’s time to look for the right services. Remember, you will get a ton of options here, but the right delivery management software is the one that adds real value to your business. Not every platform will offer everything at the right price. Also, it can get quite challenging to pay a higher price for a business that’s still at its nascent stages.
For this, you need a package that aligns with your business requirements. Here’s what all you need to consider when choosing a sustainable dispatch network for your business
- Must-have features in a dispatch system
- Simple Pricing that works at any scale
- A simple solution for all kinds of business requirements
- A free trial to test the compatibility of the delivery management software for your business
With the right delivery management system in place, you will have nothing to worry about. Sign up for the free 14- day Tookan trial and see the results yourself!
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