The Same-Day Delivery concept
The internet allows people to achieve instant gratification for things that they want. All you have to do is open a search engine such as Google and request the information you need. For most parts, you can get what you want within seconds thanks to advances in supply chain operations, delivery logistics, and supply chain digitization and automation.
This drive for instant gratification has been introduced in today’s fulfillment practices as the concept of ‘same-day delivery. Understanding the answer to “what is the omnichannel supply chain” often focuses on operations. These processes are essential to mastering modern supply chain and e-commerce.
What Are Omnichannel Supply Chains and Same Day Delivery Services?
Same-day delivery is used chiefly for online companies to increase their sales. Customers are willing to pay an extra fee to get their products as fast as possible. The main reason is that it narrows the gap between instant gratification and brick-and-mortar store shopping.
Embracing omnichannel supply chains can improve overall customer satisfaction, business performance, and profitability.
Effectively implementing this concept does, however, require a vast number of resources which results in large companies adopting this practice for the most part and leaving smaller companies behind as they gain a competitive advantage.
Leveraging advanced supply chain tools, advanced smart technology, and XPO Logistics freight tracking options can help improve end-to-end e-commerce performances.
With the rise in popularity of online shopping, e-commerce shipping, and M-commerce business, the need for reliable delivery services is more important than ever. As more people begin looking at online platforms and using eBay, Etsy, Amazon, and Shopify plus B2B features, the more these digital tools and processes are needed.
According to Marlin W Ulmer (Ulmer, 2017) and the EconoCourier website (EconoCourier, 2016), the same-day delivery concept comes with both advantages and disadvantages, which are listed and further clarified below.
Disadvantages of Same-Day Delivery for Supply Chains
A recent article published by Fulfillmentworks (Fulfillment Works, 2020) focused on the question of what is omnichannel supply chain operations and how they impact the network today? The study shows that there are three main disadvantages for both companies and consumers that correspond with the same-day delivery concept.
Same-day delivery can limit companies’ flexibility due to planning and order prioritization disruptions. Companies that don’t utilize the same-day delivery concept can adjust more efficiently in their fulfillment operations, such as re-routing, altering contents, canceling, and holding orders, to optimize their fulfillment strategy.
Companies that utilize same-day delivery do not have this flexibility, as changes within the fulfillment process will result in delays, which can upset consumers who paid for the same-day delivery option (Fulfillment Works, 2020).
Efficiency is a critically important factor within all fulfillment operations. A powerful way to improve the efficiency in shipping is to group or batch orders, also known as consolidated shipping, as this can reduce travel times.
Same-day delivery limits the possibility of grouping orders as there is less time available to accumulate charges in your picking queue before the rankings get processed.
Some M-commerce companies avoid a same-day delivery concept as the inherent nature of the concept offsets their sustainability practices. 92% of consumers are more likely to trust companies that support social or environmental issues (Fulfillment Works, 2020). This means that your brand’s perception may improve its reputation more than same-day shipping.
Advantages of Same-Day Delivery for Supply Chains
Utilizing the same-day delivery concept allows companies to gain a competitive advantage over other companies that do not use this concept. Research shows that consumers want to get their products as fast as possible. This reinforces the statement of gaining a competitive advantage using the same-day delivery concept.
Companies that utilize same-day delivery see a reduction in their inventory costs. This is because they can reduce the stock warehouses held for retail stores and also improve cross-border logistics.
According to EconoCourier (2016), companies that offer same-day delivery also require their customers to pay an extra fee to realize this concept. This is mainly due to the additional costs associated with the abrupt same-day delivery request. Consumers that need a specific product fast can use the idea of same-day delivery and reduce the time it takes before they acquire their product.
This means they can reduce the time spent before they receive gratification by obtaining their product (EconoCourier, 2016). There are plenty of indications that same-day delivery will become an even stronger standard in today’s fulfillment practices since companies that do not apply this concept lose their competitive advantage.
Understand Same-Day Delivery and Omnichannel Services With ModusLink
ModusLink is ready to help you understand what it would take for you to be able to implement same-day delivery. We can analyze where you do business and want to do business and give you proposals as to the best approach, whether it’s a “universal” same-day offering, a geographic dependent same-day offering, or some other fulfillment as service criteria.
Bibliography:
Umer, M. (2018). Dynamic pricing and routing in Same day delivery. Informs, 1-2.
Ulmer, M. (2017). Delivery-deadlines in same day delivery. Logistics research, September. From inventoryops: https://www.inventoryops.com/articles/same_day_shipping.htm
EconoCourier (2016, December 22). The advantage of same-day delivery to businesses and shops. From Econo courier blogpage: https://econo-courier.com/advantage-day-delivery-businesses-shops/
Fulfillmentworks. (2020, June 10). The disadvantages of same-day delivery. From Fulfillmentworks home: https://www.fulfillmentworks.com/blog/post/disadvantages-of-same-day-shipping/
Clarkec, I. D.-P. (2020). Same-day delivery with drone resupply. Informs, 1-2.
DHL, T. R. (2019, May 16). DHL . From DHL launches its first regular fully-automated and intelligent urban drone delivery service: https://www.dpdhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2019/dhl-launches-its-first-regular-fully-automated-and-intelligent-urban-drone-delivery-service.html
EHang. (2021, January 29). EHang home page. From EHang: https://www.ehang.com/ehangaav
CNBC. (2019, July 15). How Amazon delivers on one-Day shipping .
Geekwire. (2016, December 22). How does amazon prime now deliver packages in under two hours?