Last Mile Carrier Tracking & the Last Mile Carrier, What’s the Difference?
Last mile carrier tracking is a process that allows businesses to track their shipments from the moment they leave the warehouse until the moment they are delivered to the customer. This type of tracking can be extremely beneficial for businesses, as it allows them to see where their shipments are at all times and make sure that they are being delivered on time. This can be accomplished by updating the location of the package every time it enters a sortation facility and/or giving customers live ETAs of their package on an updating map when it’s out for delivery.
Leaders in last mile carrier tracking provide creative and easy ways for businesses and customers to actively track their package. At Glympse, this starts with providing a safe, unique URL link to access live tracking which automatically updates and notifies the customer of their packages whereabouts. In addition to live tracking, customers expect to be contacted based on their preferred communication method whether it’s texting, email, or in-app notifications. When it comes to last mile carrier tracking, communication is key to providing top-notch services!
On the other hand, the last mile carrier is a type of shipping company or fleet dispatcher that specializes in delivering packages to customers’ doorsteps. Last-mile carriers are typically used by e-commerce businesses and are responsible for the final leg of the delivery process. Examples of last-mile carriers include UPS, USPS, FedEx, OnTrak, and many others! Few businesses, like Amazon, offer their own in-house solution for the last mile. However, this is especially rare as last mile logistics is very expensive and can account for more than 50% of total cost of shipping.
Leaders in last mile carriers are exceptional in finding the most efficient routes to the fulfillment center to their final stop that lowers shipping costs and decreases overall carbon emissions. In fact, many of the market leaders are able to offer their customers 1 to 2 day shipping. This is in addition to having seamless tracking information throughout the package’s journey. Having these options provides customers the best experience for their money.
Why Is Last Mile Carrier Tracking Important for Modern Businesses?
There are many reasons why last mile carrier tracking is important for businesses. First, it allows businesses to see where their shipments are at all times and make sure that they are being delivered on time. Second, last mile carrier tracking can help businesses improve their customer service by providing customers with live updates on their shipment’s location. This can help to build customer trust and loyalty, as customers will know that they can always track their shipments and receive up-to-date information on its whereabouts.
Last mile carrier tracking can also help businesses save money and improve security by reducing the number of lost or stolen packages. It’s also significantly cheaper to implement last mile carrier tracking with current business vehicles than contracting with a last mile carrier company.
How Can Businesses Improve Their Last Mile Carrier Tracking?
There are many ways that businesses can improve their last mile carrier tracking. Here are six tips:
1. Providing real-time ETAs
Customers are demanding real-time information about their order, such as driver location, expected time of arrivals (ETAs), and constant updates about delayed deliveries. With last mile carrier tracking, customers are able to visually see where their package is at during the last mile process.
Within Glympse, we provide users ETA that keep customers in the loop. No downloading or confusion! Customers click a URL unique to their experience to quickly see that “Uber-like” view. It’s a safe, secure, temporary share of location that protects the driver and the company from privacy issues.
2. Text, Email, or In-App Alerts
More and more customers are expecting fast delivery notifications to evolve to their technological needs. For this reason, email alerts are no longer the golden standard. Many customers expect texting notifications alongside email alerts. Texting alerts provide customer instant alerts for scheduling confirmation, out for delivery alerts, ETA links, and shipping delays.
Glympse’s sophisticated rules engine puts the intelligence behind your events with triggers and notifications, so things can keep moving. Simply add your parameters and let Glympse do the rest! Provide alerts via text, email, or both to give your customers control over their communication preferences.
3. Proactive Courier Communication Between Customer and Dispatcher
Quick access to courier communication is paramount for customer experience. Customers can quickly call or text their questions to the delivery driver for clarification. Customers can also provide important information such as their gate code, parking preference, or delivery drop-off method. Communication can also be handed off to customer service when the driver is busy on the road. This prevents the driver from being distracted and focuses on getting safely to their destination on time!
Glympse improves courier communication by creating our 2-way smart messaging. With 2-way smart messaging, our users can send and receive messages with customers in real time. Keep everyone on the same page with proactive messaging by sending messages based on specific events or triggers that you control. Keep your communications organized and easy to find within the Glympse console or your app.
4. Proof of Delivery
Proof of Delivery (POD) ensures customers that their package was delivered at their requested location. POD can include signatures, photos, printed out labels, and barcodes. In some cases, companies will even deliver packages straight into the customer’s garage or house if given permission! Since porch privacy is continually on the rise, it’s important for companies and the customer to have receipts for every delivery. This prevents fraud and protects the reputation of the business. Is this possible with Glympse? It is!
5. Day-of-Service Promotions
As Steve Jobs once said, “Our job is to figure out what they’re (customers) going to want before they do”. As a business owner, it’s paramount to advertise and make your customers aware of your offerings. Without proper communication with potential and current customers, businesses can lose opportunities in which customers would be willing to pay for additional services.
Glympse’s data shows that customers engaged frequently with our journey app spending 6 to 8 minutes on average using the app. Essentially, this is an excellent opportunity to communicate with your customers. And no, we don’t mean unskippable ads! Instead, we created day-of-service promotions. Within our software, business owners can use this space to provide special instructions, upsell, or send targeted messages to customers. Additionally, Glympse can connect to a third party ad service or run ads on your behalf.
6. Instant Real-time Customer Feedback
Services that don’t meet expectations are as bad as failing to deliver a package. A feedback rating system for last mile carriers is important to maintain a good relationship with the customer. After each delivery, customers can rate their experience and add comments about their experience – in real time. This helps businesses improve their service by taking into account customer suggestions.
At Glympse, we understand the importance of customer feedback as it provides businesses a quick way to examine their customers’ immediate satisfaction. Customers can gather real-time feedback from their customers when the experience is still fresh. Glympse supports 5-star or the NPS models of customer satisfaction with options for customizable, free-form feedback.
How Can Glympse Help Your Last Mile Carrier Tracking?
Glympse has been operating for over 14+ years, so we know a thing or two about location intelligence and last mile carrier tracking! We are the leading real-time location tracking and sharing, visualization, and data insights platform. Use Glympse to increase your team’s productivity, decrease operational costs, and provide higher satisfaction for your customers. We also understand the importance of security. That’s why Glympse is SOC 2 Type 2 certified. A SOC 2 Type 2 certification assures that our platform achieves very high standards for security policies and data protection procedures.
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