Think of a final mile exception as a ticking bomb… with every second you are one step closer to detonation. What happens when the bomb explodes? An angry shipper demanding a fee reduction, an irate customer missing their product, missed delivery SLAs, unhappy couriers and frazzled dispatchers – all which cost time, money, stress and result in a less than delightful customer experience.
11% of shipments encounter exceptions which can negatively affect the customer experience.
Management by Exception has moved to the forefront and is no longer reactive and ad hoc. It has morphed into proactive management where operations, planning and risk management are driven by exception, based on data, AI and real time visibility across all parts of the supply chain. The need for accurate and real time information on shipper, customer and courier performance to resolve issues quickly or, more importantly, to catch them before they occur is paramount. The Amazon effect of delivery immediacy makes almost every order an exception in its own right. Modern supply chains are under serious threat of being overwhelmed by exceptions which are quickly becoming a top customer service driver.
The Amazon effect of widespread consumer expectations of fast, inexpensive shipping has rippled outward and put increased pressure on supply chain participants further removed from the consumer. Systematically removing the slack from logistics networks in order to move goods more quickly has improved performance but also reduced the margin of error for suppliers and carriers writes John Paul Hampstead, Director, FreightWaves.
In a recent survey, almost half (47%) of online shoppers said they would not order from a retailer again due to lack of supply chain visibility, and 70% of customers said they would not make another purchase if they had a negative delivery experience. In other words delivery must be seamless, or shoppers won’t return.
The top 3 reasons for exceptions are:
- Delays (traffic, weather, missing product, courier defect)
- Failed Delivery Attempts
- Incorrect Addresses
94% of consumers still say they will blame the shipper, not their carrier for any issues, especially if their delivery arrives late or in bad condition. This fact is forcing the hand of shippers and retailers to invest in final mile delivery, ultimately investing in their customer satisfaction and retention.
No Visibility has No Predictability
A centralized approach using technology coupled with a high-level Dispatch and Customer Experience team is the key to our success. Collaboration and visibility are two sides of the same coin in supply chain management. WISMO (Where is my order?) calls are a thing of the past at OneRail with our proactive method of managing exceptions.
- Over-communicate, especially when there is an issue. A OneRail Customer Experience manager will contact the shipper and THEIR Customer with all updates that may impact a timely delivery. This process builds trust, loyalty and most importantly, grace when things are 100% perfect.
- Resolve before impact. With so many different final mile variables, getting shipments back on track quickly is key so that it doesn’t impact the customer experience. At OneRail, our Dispatch and Customer Experience teams collaborate with shippers, couriers and customers to create workflow priorities on actionable exceptions to resolve issues long before the customer ever knows there was one. If the delivery arrives on time then the exception never existed, right?
- Eliminate the Root Cause, Address the How. OneRail has the ability to use AI to intelligently predict exceptions by pulling data from disparate, disconnected silos, analyze it, devise solutions and alert the human operators who can automate workflows.
Last mile logistics result in 40% of the overall logistics costs for an organization.
It is critical to the overall success of a shipper for their exception management to be impeccable. Failures within the final mile delivery logistics are both the most visible to consumers, least visible to supply chain leaders and the costliest. OneRail is the ultimate orchestration platform that seamlessly links automation of the delivery order and provides complete visibility, real time tracking and AI to provide proactive planning capabilities. Our fully integrated network of 6MM+ couriers, dedicated Dispatch and Customer Experience teams utilize the best in both technology and people to provide unparalleled exception management.
Does your current solution include the technology and team to diffuse your exceptions?
