The Last Mile—Smartly Planned

The logistical effort of delivering parcels is significant, especially in cities. From minimising traffic in urban centres to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, innovations in parcel delivery solutions generate substantial benefits, while smart solutions can contribute to the success of sustainable urban economies in the long term.

What is last-mile delivery?

Last-mile delivery refers to the final stage of the delivery process, i.e. the arrival of a package or goods at the customer’s destination. In most cases, this entails bringing it to their doorstep.

According to a study conducted by Business Insider, last-mile delivery is the most time-consuming and costly part of the shipping process, with last-mile delivery costs accounting for 53% of total shipping expenses. The goal here is to distribute the increasing volume of parcels in a secure and efficient manner with lower costs and effort (personnel, time, and routes).

In addition to the classic issues that arise in logistics, the question of recipient availability is expanded here to include a variable factor, namely the customer. The delivery time windows of parcel recipients vary and can be difficult for delivery companies to estimate (especially during the coronavirus pandemic). In contrast to commercial recipients who have fixed opening hours or even agreed delivery times, private customers make the logistics of last-mile delivery a lot more complex. Questions about when customers can be reached, how to avoid multiple trips and how to reduce the ever-increasing workload of parcel delivery staff are all issues for delivery logistics.

The remedy for these issues is innovation in the form of unattended delivery. Smart access systems such as Tapkey make it possible to optimise and improve last-mile delivery. With delivery to the boot of a car or to a parcel box, many use cases can be covered when no one is present on site. This not only eliminates the question of what to do when customers aren’t present; it also reduces the number of trips required and therefore the workload.