Adaptability. Flexibility. Contingency.
Irrespective of the size of a business, or the industry it operates within, these are key traits business leaders want to ingrain in the foundations of their operations.
That’s as true in retail and logistics as it is in any industry.
As eCommerce penetration continues to increase, consumers are focusing on the delivery experience closely.
They have higher expectations than ever, and a lower tolerance for when those expectations aren’t met. At Shippit, it’s one of the key reasons why we focus so much on ‘flexible fleets’.
Flexible fleets and on-demand delivery networks enable businesses to adapt to changes in volume, offering the ability to scale up – and just as importantly, down – as needed.
It enables retailers to scale down during, for example, a slow week in July, before tapping into more capacity during the Black Friday rush – without having to be tied into long-term contracts.
What’s more, they allow merchants to accelerate delivery times and offer recipients guaranteed delivery certainty.
If as a retailer you rely on only one – or a small number of carriers – you open yourself up to risk if they’re at capacity, or influenced by external factors like a natural disaster or cyber attack.
When retailers can tap into flexible fleets, they can send capacity to different carriers as and when they need to, so their customers’ expectations are met and exceeded every time.