After the trend, ‘There’s an app for this’, the world is getting inclined towards the ‘tap and get economy’.

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The ease delivered by mobile apps got an unmatched company of On Demand service. It didn’t take long for the market to adopt it.

The basic concept behind is that the online generated and received demand is serviced offline, either instantaneously or in a scheduled manner.

Evolving logistics and courier business

The ground transport giant Uber recently made its first delivery using a self-driving truck. With their activities, it is clear that they are planning to join the logistics department soon.

However, for this, they’ll have to create a strong plan and a strict implementation.

No doubt, Uber has a good base with over 30 million users a month from 425 countries of 72 nations. The startup has made it large with a staggering $70 billion worth.

After ruling the global road transport, the team looks determined to take over the logistics and courier industry.

Well, the competition isn’t easy to crack. In a recent announcement On-demand courier service provider Shyp launched a new tool which enables e-tailers to compare shipping rates and print labels at their premises.

With this new tool, the merchants will have an extra blend of ease as this will remove the need to go to a third party or the carriers for a shipping label.

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Convenience is the new expectation

The entire industry is facing disruption with the advent of on-demand services. Today people have tested the convenience and ease through cabs on demand, Ridesharing/car-pooling, On Demand trucks, vans etc., Car rental platforms, Hiring chauffeurs, on-demand valet parking, etc.

After using these services, people’s expectation has changed. Well, it isn’t just the users but even the investors who have shown their interest in On-Demand logistics mobility solutions.

According to a report in last five years over $2 million in investment is made in logistics on-demand apps, but in last one year, the amount has increased largely crossing $1.5 million.

What is the need for On-Demand in logistics and courier?

Logistics and courier industry has massive flow, out of which many are confidential and need to be taken a lot of care.

The client base in this industry mostly comprises of big business houses, which hardly has the time to call/mail to check the delivery of the consignment.

To satisfy this client base, the on-demand mobility solutions is required to be introduced.

However, there are certain things which you’ll have to take care of in need to sustain in this growing market for long term. They are:

Realtime tracking

Allow your users to track the transit of their cargo/parcel. This should start from the moment it is picked till you drop it to the destination.

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The feature helps in keeping your users engaged and simultaneously you also gain their trust.

The togetherness of two will help you sustain in the market and reach your set target swiftly.

Prompt service

Now that you didn’t have any physical interaction with your clients, it is important that you deliver faster service in order to retain them for long.

Visit the third party to have the physical copy. The absence of this might annoy the user and make him feel insecure using your services.

This needs to be implemented from the moment they join you till the time you accomplish their task.

Digital presence for everything

When we say everything, this points at digitalizing the receipts, print labels, and other information.

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The user need not have to travel to your physical outlet or visit the third party to have the physical copy.

Giving them the right to have the details anywhere will eventually add the much-required blend of ‘convenience’, subsequently giving you satisfied users.

Ease of access

The interface of your on-demand logistics/courier application needs to be easy.

People prefer this platform because it saves their time and efforts and if you fail to deliver the same to them, they’ll abandon your application.

To crack this you need to build an easy interface which allows them to access the information and use the other features without any problem.

Data security

Now that the entire information is saved in digital format, your clients might be sending/receiving confidential parcels/cargo.

The information saved in your application has to be well secured.

Any glitches in this section can not only make you lose the employee but also can lead to some serious problems from the client’s side.

At the time of developing such an app, discuss with your On-demand logistic app developer about the measures that you are taking to secure client’s information.

Warehouse management

With an on-demand app for logistics, it becomes easy to scan the goods which are both coming and going out of the warehouse.

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It also results in error-free tracking of all the products, equipment, and goods. It also helps the supervisors to get immediate access of all the data when they enter the IDs of the goods.

The system allows the data to sync it with the main database in real-time.

Optimize routes and delivery schedules

You can maximize the efficiency of the supply chain management by getting insights on delivery schedules and transportation routes.

Moreover, a robust on-demand app helps you to create new opportunities to establish a sustainable partnership between the customer and the logistics company which also helps in enhancing the customer loyalty.

Vehicle and fleet management

A real-time tracking app helps you to manage your vehicles and fleet efficiently. It helps you in assessing the total fuel consumption and mileage.

The app also helps you in keeping the track of engine condition, battery, network status, and tire health.

The predictive signals from the data thus collected by the app can transform the reactive vehicle maintenance into a proactive one.

Paperless process

The process of handling and delivering cargo from one to another is complex and needs a lot of paperwork.

However, with the help of a logistics management software, all the paperwork can be done on the paperless solution which helps in efficient management, fast processing, and secure access.

Better inventory management

Logistics app development becomes important as it helps in stock keeping and managing inventory in real-time and high precision.

This ensures proper prioritization of goods dispatch and helps to reduce the excess stock kept at the warehouse.

Read More: How uber for trucking will change the logistics business

Driver dispatcher efficiency

with the help of a logistics app solution in place, the drivers can be dispatched automatically as soon as a new request is received.

Moreover, it also provides real-time information to the dispatcher to ensure the route optimization.

Apart from that it also provides you with key information such as mileage, delivery schedules, distance traveled and many more.

Enhances user experience

A logistics app plays a major role in enhancing the user experience. It’s because with the help of an app any user can request for sending couriers, packages, food-delivery, furniture delivery, and many more by just tapping on their phone.

Earlier the process for the same was way lengthy as the users had to stand in long queues.

However, a logistics app provides doorstep pickup and delivery to all its user and takes the user experience to the next level.

Feedback mechanism

An efficient logistics app comes with a robust feedback mechanism which acts as a platform where the users can raise their complaints and give their valuable suggestions.

A feedback system is necessary in any business because no matter how good your service is, there’s always a scope of improvement.

Conclusion

Logistics and courier industry is growing faster than the general people imagined.

The day isn’t far that technology will overtake the industry and innovation will surpass all borders to deliver the best to us.

This is the time, the growing stage. Make sure that you start early to stay longer in this market.

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author-profile

Moin Shaikh

Head of Staff augmentation, outsourcing, and on-demand software solutions at Peerbits. Managing the development team and clients, possessing a deep understanding of varied domains, making WBS/Scope of work with estimation in pre-sales. Explaining the concept of business requirements, handover documentation to the development team and freezing the requirement.

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