BUSINESS

Making Your Deliveries More Efficient

While the internet has opened up a whole load of potential clients from around the world, it has challenged businesses to improve their delivery offerings. But there are ways that businesses can turn the challenges of delivery into opportunities and making your deliveries more efficient can improve your businesses’ reputation. Start by following our tips below.

Work with delivery specialists

Deliveries and logistics are a complex business, and most companies won’t know where to start when it comes to sorting them out. That’s why you should consider working with delivery specialists to get your business on track and improve efficiency. Check out delivery companies such as www.rhenus-hightech.co.uk, as they will no doubt be able to help you overhaul your logistics and improve your figures across the board.

Brand your work vehicles

Why have plain white vehicles on the road when they can be a moving billboard? Adding custom car decals is an easy way to get your brand name out there, and when your vans are spending all day on the road, that’s free advertising. Decals also give your vehicles a more professional look and feel, and mean when they arrive at a client’s home, they know they’re from the company.

Sort out your picking efficiency

Getting things picked quickly and efficiently is key to getting faster deliveries. You can do this by:

  • Making sure your warehouse is clutter-free
  • Ensuring you have enough staff
  • Creating a cut-off deadline for dispatch
  • Considering offering fewer products, so picking is easier

Many companies under invest in their warehouses, which slows things down and means products go out much more slowly. Make sure this isn’t happening in your place.

Know local regulations

Making deliveries can sometimes come with red tape. It’s not always possible to transport items in a certain way, or certain areas may have restrictions. For example, making deliveries in London may require you to pay a congestion charge, and certain timings may not be possible. You need to ensure that you carefully plan deliveries so that you don’t fall foul of local laws or struggle to get permission for them.

Look at all stages of delivery

Most companies focus on the final mile of delivery, but it’s all stages that could require some improvement. You need to ensure that from picking to the delivery getting into your customer’s hands, things are efficient, low-cost and run smoothly. Bottlenecks can often happen along the way, so make sure you avoid this danger and look at ways to clear them.

Customers are becoming more demanding than ever when it comes to deliveries. Unless you’re a specialist retailer, they’re likely to expect next day delivery, especially if they order early in the day. This is where your business needs to focus its attention. Fast deliveries mean happy customers, and as they get quicker, expectations have grown. Therefore, you may need to look at the different stages of dispatch and delivery and see where things can be sped up, and where they could be made more efficient and reliable.