Now that we’ve covered eCommerce earlier this week, let’s take a look at Delivery Services.
If you aren’t already familiar with our Customer Relations 101 blog posts, in each, we take a moment to break down each aspect of customer relations, what you need to know, and how you can improve your customer relations to grow your business.
Going off of our last blog on eCommerce, if there is any lesson to be learned from the rise of Amazon, eBay, and similar websites, it’s that delivery is absolutely critical to your business.
And, much like eCommerce, it doesn’t matter what type of business you run—you need to be able to deliver your products.
However, don’t go out hiring the delivery driver just yet. Let’s take a closer look into delivery services and the options open to your business.
Why The Last Mile Matters
Amazon’s work to bring last-mile delivery in-house just goes to show the importance of the last mile from a logistics standpoint.
So much of the big shippers’ money, from UPS to FedEx, have to go to get that package the last mile to your doorstep.
Herein likes a major, critical advantage you have over all of the other online retailers. You can cross this last mile at a fraction of the cost. As a local business, you’re already in the area. All you need are drivers or a service to cover the last mile, and you can ship and deliver much faster than any of the big-name online storefronts.
Delivery Services: Automated or Managed
Now that we’ve covered the last mile and why you need to offer delivery, let’s talk about the two ways you can handle delivery.
The first way, and the way that’s become increasingly popular over the years, is automating the delivery process. With automated delivery, you’re effectively outsourcing the work. With UberEats, Doordash, and similar services, you can have third-party drivers do the heavy lifting for you to deliver food and non-food items alike to customers.
The problem, however, is that automated delivery can be a big threat to business. These services may eat up revenue in fees and costs, and if they fail to deliver or harm your items in transit, customers may blame you instead of the driver.
That’s where managed delivery comes into play. This is the more traditional model—where your employees are doing the delivery for you. Sure, this means taking on the logistics for yourself, but that doesn’t have to be a difficult issue.
Enter Franpos.
Delivering with A Point of Sale Solution
With Franpos, you can tie your managed delivery right to your point of sale. With Franpos, you receive an app that can go on your employees phones to track deliveries and make them as completed.
Franpos will also automatically find the most efficient way to make multiple deliveries for your drivers, saving you time and money. Plus, if you do choose to automate your delivery through other services, Franpos offers Postmates integration. Simply mark an order as ready for delivery, and a Postmates driver will arrive and handle the rest for you.
We hope we’ve illustrated the importance of delivery services to your business. And, if you’re interested, schedule a free demo today and see why Franpos can make delivery service and customer relations a breeze.
