Last-mile delivery, often referred to as the “last leg,” is debatably the most important part in the exchange process but is frequently categorized as the least efficient step in the supply chain journey.
With customer satisfaction and loyalty reigning high among retailers’ priorities, an organized and streamlined process should be put in place to help ensure that all stakeholders benefit.
Many companies that make last-mile deliveries, such as grocery stores, restaurants, and niche retailers, are not equipped with the right technology or expertise to make the most of their efforts. The labor-intensive practices necessary to make up for these gaps leave all parties in the dark on delivery status.
These practices create lapses in communication that cause deliveries to be delayed, or worse, missed. Beyond higher costs and increased customer dissatisfaction, the inefficient use of resources, such as fleets of gas and diesel vehicles, contributes to increased emissions and pollution.
Sustainable Last-Mile Deliveries
As businesses and consumers prioritize sustainable environmental processes, creating industrial efficiencies is increasingly important. Revoolt Smart Solutions SL, a delivery logistics software company, is helping to champion this effort through its logistics platform, which consists of electric vehicles that streamline processes and enable an eco-friendly approach to making last-mile deliveries.
A key contributor to environmentally friendly delivery is minimized waste – in terms of vehicle usage and produce freshness. Revoolt needed a sophisticated communication solution that would allow two-way interaction with customers to help reduce delayed or missed deliveries and improve overall customer experiences.
To capitalize on the areas of improvement, Revoolt chose the SAP SMS 365 mobile service, part of digital interconnect services from SAP. Through the integration of SAP SMS 365, Revoolt’s last-mile delivery platform provides secure and reliable messaging and real-time notifications using a global, cloud-based digital messaging network from SAP, with more than 1,000 mobile network operators in over 220 countries and territories.
Communications-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) solutions from SAP Digital Interconnect enables companies like Revoolt to easily implement scalable, reliable communication channels via programmable APIs.
Customer Satisfaction, Tangible Results
With digitalized communications facilitated by SAP SMS 365, Revoolt’s customers have been able to complete more deliveries on the first try. Beyond delivery reliability, consistent communication through a CPaaS platform from SAP has also helped customers avoid depleting resources like fuel, vehicles, and manpower, which has resulted in less carbon emissions and lower costs.
“Making things more efficient and cost-effective by going digital with services from the SAP Digital Interconnect group fits with our company’s mission to create a platform for sustainable, reliable, and scalable last-mile delivery,” remarked Angel Sanchez Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Revoolt.
Revoolt’s drive toward creating efficient communication for its own customers has triggered a domino effect, as it in turn improves experiences for end consumers through optional resources such as two-hour delivery timeslot selection and real-time tracking. By boosting efficiencies in the delivery process through a platform enabled by SAP SMS 365, calls and complaints about missed deliveries have reduced drastically, which has also helped boost overall customer satisfaction. This bolstered reliability has the potential to encourage recurrent buying and optimize the size and frequency of deliveries to suit end consumers’ strategies and needs.
Preparing for Future Miles
As the market continues to evolve, consumers expect businesses to change with it. Communication channels are not exempt from this expectation. To remain competitive and meet the needs of its consumers, Revoolt is continuing to expand the communications capabilities available within its last-mile delivery software.
To provide a seamless solution, Revoolt is looking to add other social channels available through the SAP Social Channels 365 mobile service, through the single API in digital interconnect services.
As Revoolt expands beyond grocery stores and begins to serve a wider customer base, it will lean on the flexibility and scalability of digital interconnect services from SAP.
Arti Yadav is director of Global Marketing for SAP Digital Interconnect.
Sonia Lopez Esquilas is sales director for Iberia & Northern Europe for SAP Digital Interconnect.
