European delivery companies lead way in last mile innovation
New research from Scandit, based on interviews with 118 senior decision makers at postal and logistics providers, identifies how the impact of Covid-19 is pushing European-based last mile companies to innovate.
In the face of unprecedented hurdles and shifting consumer demands, European operations are more likely to invest in new services (14.3%) such as Pick Up Drop Off (PUDO) and new innovations (20.6%) including real-time delivery changes.
This is in contrast to their North American counterparts of which just 5.9% prioritise new offerings with a heavier focus on meeting today’s demands. European firms are also more likely to invest in augmented reality today or in the future (69.2%) than those in North America (58.8%).
The research, conducted across Europe and North America by ITTS and VDC Research respectively, found that companies who use smartphones during last mile delivery tend to be more innovation focused, providing an advantage to meet increased customer expectations.
Different challenges and investment priorities exist across Europe. For example, companies in Eastern Europe and the Nordics are most focused on adding new apps and features (43.8%) and technology that supports new services (18.8%) like Pick Up Drop Off (PUDO).
This aligns with one of their most cited local challenges of the need to provide new customer services (33%) and demonstrates a positive step that they are evolving their offering to improve the customer experience in their region.
Western Europe including Great Britain is more evenly balanced in its technology investment plans between improving the fundamentals such as delivery app enhancements (37%) and offering new services (18.5%) or contactless processes (25.9%).
However, Western Europe is significantly more open than its peers in Southern European countries when it comes to deploying new capabilities and services.
For example, 18.5% plan to invest in new apps and features in Western Europe, compared to just 5% in Southern Europe, whose top priority is enhancing their current delivery app (60%).
Pat Nolan, Senior Research Analyst at VDC Research, says: “Augmented reality is an important key to unlocking greater competitive performance and differentiation for last mile delivery operations, with over 34% of global respondents saying it is on their shortlist of technology investment considerations.”
“A last mile AR solution can help a driver, for example, quickly identify a specific parcel in a densely packed delivery van or see real-time delivery instructions. The use cases for AR here reduce some of the stress burden placed on frontline workers’ shoulders and make the operation more efficient overall.”
As well as being more open to innovation, half of the enterprises that are using smartphones in the last mile are also currently leveraging a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategy.
Among European respondents, the biggest driver for BYOD is reducing costs (57.1%) and replacing ageing hardware (42%) which helps address their major challenge of balancing profitability.
Samuel Mueller, CEO and Co-founder at Scandit, says: “While Covid-19 and supply chain issues across Europe have created new challenges for last mile delivery, it has also accelerated solutions that were long in the pipeline. For example, a heavier reliance on smartphone use and BYOD.”
“What is especially interesting, however, is the varying priorities across Europe, but it’s positive to see that these are being recognised and investments made accordingly. It signifies that logistic companies clearly see the impact issues on the last mile can have on customers and how essential they are to address today and into the future.”
