The parcel delivery industry is currently experiencing an explosive innovation as eCommerce continues to mount pressure of the modern-day need required for every business to operate in this day’s business environment.
This industry has been saturated with companies that compete to provide their clients with outstanding services to ease their business processes And for consumers? These folks increasingly need a system that is meeting up with other sectors of life.
Some of the innovations that have been introduced into the parcel delivery industry are:
- Accurate prediction of delivery date and time
- In-built GPS to track carrier route
- Barcode scanner for quick inventory management
- Tracking ability for multiple courier services
- Timely notification
- Carrier autodetection
The days of delivering goods without the consumers’ ability to track their orders and predict the possible date of delivery has been phased out by a systematic form of delivery that provides consumers with a more accurate tracking system.
As technology is also advancing to a more self-operating and reliable standard, consumers also expect that delivery services be per excellence in the time it takes to deliver an item, how convenient it should be to transact, monitor, and communicate with the courier service companies via a smartphone.
This simple undocumented request has forced so many players in the parcel delivery service industry, both key players and startups to think and innovate on how to serve consumers modernly.
For time-sensitive delivery, UPS launched the UPS Worldwide Express (WWE) which provides customers with ultra-speedy delivery of orders on the next possible business day by 10:30 a.m., 12 noon, or 2 p.m., based on destination.
According to UPS, the UPS WWE service is especially beneficial for shippers in the retail, high-tech, industrial manufacturing, and healthcare sectors, in addition to consumers using it for urgent global shipments.
Amazon as-well has a similar one-day delivery system for amazon prime members where you receive your items on the same day of placing an order as long as you placed your order before the Same-Day Delivery order cutoff time.
The eCommerce Effect on the Parcel Courier Industry
Technology has been actively seen to push the eCommerce industry to a place of steady growth. Consumers have welcomed with open arms, the idea of buying and selling that is done and completed via a smartphone, and its growth has also rippled into other sectors like the parcel courier industry.
According to eMarketer’s most recent global eCommerce forecast, the Asia-Pacific’s predictions for eCommerce sales in 2024 is to hit up to $2,448.33 billion in sales, while the Middle East and Africa are predicted to hit a combination of $41.56 billion in sales.
This is an impressive score given that 10 years ago, it could be said that the buying and selling industry was yet to witness and swirl into what we have now.
This growth has been followed by the need for parcel delivery companies to sit up and meet consumers’ expectations.
For many parcel delivery startups and existing companies, there have been notable improved performances that have met the expectations of the consumers, but bigger eCommerce platforms, as a step to create an all-inclusive service operating under the same name, have used their financial prowess to establish logistics and courier services to extend the services they render to consumers who also buy from them.
This has proved two things in the courier service industry;
- The courier service industry has a great number of opportunities tied to the eCommerce business. And secondly,
- The trajectory growth of this industry is moving at a speedy pace
These two reasons have birthed the relevancy attached to the courier industry in an eCommerce era, and have continuously encouraged more innovations and the emergence of more companies in the industry.
The Effect Of Competing Companies
As more companies sprung from the competition which was driven by the opportunities in the industry, these companies saw the need to out-perform their competitors, providing a standard for growth.
Shipping companies have begun using competitive edge technology that has propelled shipping into a whole new world. Features like the ability to track the current state and location of packages, delivery time predictability, automatic order detection, have formed a base for emerging parcel delivery companies.
More research is being made by the government and bigger companies to try out the possible use of drones in delivery, and with this single innovation if commercialized, will birth a contactless delivery service, plus swiftness in the delivery process.
– The South Korean government has partnered with a state research institute to demonstrate the cooperative operation of a delivery drone and autonomous robot that delivers groceries to customers living on a small island across a narrow strait. According to Ajudaily
In the successfully conducted test, it was noted that a drone was flown to travel for about 700 meters far, reaching an altitude of about 80 meters (262 feet) to deliver groceries bought by a customer in Jangdo, a small island off Yeosu.
It’s been also noted that the delivery drone is capable of carrying up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds), traveling at a maximum speed of 60 km per hour while lasting up to 30 minutes.
This isn’t the first step towards the collaboration of the drone climate and eCommerce, as more tests and promises for a more commercialized collaboration has been made.
McKinsey predicts that AVs including the delivery drones will make up to 80% of deliveries in the future, and this is already happening as companies like Wing have launched its first air service in Australia, where customers can place fast orders for food, coffee, and over-the-counter pharmacy items through a mobile app and get it delivered to their homes in minutes just by drones
Impressive of Dronamics to be far ahead of time as they are currently testing their unmanned cargo planes which will transport up to 350 kilograms at a distance of 2,500 kilometers (or 1,550 miles) at a relatively lower cost compared to a regular cargo plane.
These innovations are competitive standards set in the eCommerce and delivery industry by concerned governments and big companies, and when customers get a taste of these innovative ideas, it becomes utterly hard to return or even conform to the old ways of operation.
According to Rock Magnan, president of Fremont, Calif.-based RK Logistics Group, “The buying experience has changed, and those expectations are spilling over to the delivery experience,”
Also, technology has made the world a global village where nothing can easily be hidden.
Customers who pick courier services they want to do business with from the existing pool, have to give them detailed reviews of other customers who have in the past used the services of these companies.
It’s easy to find the strengths and weaknesses of these companies, compare them against their competitors, and make a choice either to go ahead with the business or pick from other companies.
Either way, this transparent pool of opinions from other customers forces every other parcel delivery company to optimize their customer retention strategies, which cuts across their innovative ideas, customer service, and other services they make available under the same company umbrella.
As part of consumers’ demand and what the modern-day eCommerce business requires, parcel delivery companies are taking a step to further show how much they guarantee you the safe handling of your goods by embedding shipping insurance in the list of what a customer is entitled to.
Though this hasn’t taken a full swing into the parcel delivery market generally, there are sectors of the delivery industry that have started and improved on how they respond to insurance policies surrounding goods delivery.
For instance, in the Cargo sector, Sean Dalton, chair of IUMI’s Cargo Committee, speaking at the annual conference of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) on September 23, 2024, reported that –
“The majority of marine cargo markets geographically can best be described as “hard” or “improving” amid significant change.”
“The challenges facing cargo insurers include addressing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their business as well as continued changes in exposures ranging from increased accumulations to unprecedented shipboard fires as well as new and evolving exposures such as cyber.”
He continued –
“In the past 12 months, there have been a number of large cargo losses. These include the tragic explosion in the Port of Beirut, a significant loss to a distribution facility impacted by the Nashville tornadoes, and the total loss of 4,200 vehicles aboard the Golden Ray”
These notes taken by big shipping bodies and the sensitivity expressed in situations of loss of goods is transforming into what might lead to a general market adaptation of shipping insurance.
Take Away
The battle is on in the parcel delivery industry right now as companies are racing to out-perform their competitors and get a grip on the market share for a longer time.
This competitive spirit is rewarding the eCommerce sector by bringing a seamless experience in the buying and selling market, as this sector also is experiencing explosive growth across all its boards.
Here are some of the competitive edges that are remarkable in the growth of the parcel industry in 2024:
- Accurate forecast of the delivery time and date
- Automatic detection of carrier companies
- Real-time notifications
- GPS for tracking order status and the current state of the orders
- The emergence of delivery drones
- Shipping insurance
These awesome innovative ideas, consumer expectations, and technologies have been the inspiration behind the growth of the parcel delivery industry and will continue to motivate these companies to optimize from here, on how best to serve the eCommerce market and its customers.
