CEP service providers are facing increasing competition on the last mile. Customers are going with the companies that provide the best service. New technologies and mobile solutions are helping CEP service providers to increase customer satisfaction while cutting costs.
How CEP service providers are winning the last mile
Lufthansa Industry Solutions was recognized as a relevant player in the digital factory in the three use case clusters “Predictive Analytics & Maintenance”, “Traceability” and “Asset & Plant Performance Monitoring” by teknowlogy. According to teknowlogy, the leading independent European market analysis and consulting company for the IT industry, LHIND has proven to be able to address all related use cases in these categories.
The delivery of shipments directly to private and business customers, known as the “last mile,” is increasingly a source of challenges for courier, express and package delivery providers (CEP). For example, customers are looking to order goods online and decide spontaneously whether they would like to pick them up from the nearest branch or have them delivered by a CEP service provider. When it comes to connecting the online and offline worlds, start-ups with innovative and flexible omni-channel concepts are competition for established CEP service providers with fixed networks. Private drivers are also competitors on the last mile. This market has potential for growth, since they can use platforms to easily offer their courier services for shipments on routes that they are driving on anyway.
Efforts are also under way to reorganize these services, especially in major cities, which are the main regions in which CEP services operate. Consolidation of CEP services could provide major relief for the strain on roads, for example. As a result, the EU is supporting a number of projects that aim to make the logistics sector sustainable and efficient in its use of resources.
CEP service providers need to offer new services
All these developments indicate that CEP service providers need to focus more on setting themselves apart from the competition through new services in order to increase customer satisfaction and remain competitive in the future. The last mile, which CEP service providers can optimize in a cost-efficient manner by taking advantage of digitalization, is crucial to customer satisfaction.
Tracking apps, for example, are even more flexible and reliable than a requested delivery time. On the last mile, CEP service providers and recipients should ideally be able to take advantage of a mobile solution using sensor technology to see their respective positions, allowing them to arrange the perfect spot for handing over the package. That spot could be in a neighbor’s garden or at the bakery around the corner. This new transparency guarantees delivery on the first try, especially for high-value or express shipments, leading to satisfied customers and CEP service providers. After all, successful delivery on the first try lowers costs. The latest technologies make customer-oriented solutions such as these possible. CEP service providers need to seize this potential.
Lufthansa Industry Solutions is currently working on a mobile solution that will meet these demands. Our many years of industry experience in the transport and logistics sector, coupled with our process expertise, allow us not only to independently develop and provide mobile solutions, but also to offer all parts of the solution – such as sensor technology products, an in-house IoT communication platform and a logistics cloud, as well as the web applications and app solutions to match – from a single source.