In this blog post, you will learn about the challenges and innovations in last mile delivery, including the role of advanced geocoding solutions.
Throughout the last two decades, consumers have become evermore expectant of companies to offer next day delivery. I’m some contexts, even this is an eternity. DoorDash aims to deliver groceries within just 1-2 hours and I bet you’d be rather disappointed if your favourite pizza place took longer than 45 minutes to deliver. For the most part, the capability for ultra-fast delivery has been achieved through the localisation of flexible and responsive delivery networks, powered by one crucial factor: data.
Last mile delivery is a catch-all term for the final step in the delivery process - where packages are transported from a local depot to the retailer, or directly to customers’ homes. The Last Mile is generally the most expensive mile as a large network of delivery drivers is required to distribute the goods a single lorry can carry.
In a 2018 survey, eyefortransport highlighted the key challenges Last Mile delivery companies face.
Let’s take a deeper look at the top three.
Between 2008 and 2018 internet retail sales increased five-fold from $290.4 billion to $1.6 trillion, leading to the rapid and competitive expansion of the last mile delivery sector. In turn, each inefficiency in the delivery process has become more valuable to fix, stressing the importance of routing, batching deliveries, and the quality of data available in the final 100 metres such as parking zones and building entrances.
42% of respondents stated their margins had decreased in the 18 months preceding the survey with 41% staying constant, and only 17% increasing. This can well explain why delivery efficiency was the top issue: increased efficiency protects margins.
Retailers and customers alike listed next day delivery as one of the most important requirements of their last mile delivery service. Another top issue? Delivery flexibility. Customers want to decide the time and day their package gets delivered to minimise inconvenience. Delivery windows and accurate ETAs are made possible through an in-depth understanding of each address on a route and can only be further developed through high quality data.
Overall, the main challenges with last mile delivery are being driven by consumer demand. Customers want shipping to be fast, free, and flexible which presents an issue when the last mile constitutes 53% of the delivery costs. The 3F delivery trend shows no signs of slowing down, making it clear that efficiency at each delivery is the key. But how can this be achieved?
Aspects of the last mile have been well streamlined. In-house and third-party delivery apps provide drivers with up-to-date traffic information; well crafted routes; real-time accurate positioning, even in urban canyons thanks to Google’s fused location; and the ability to scan and photograph successful parcel drop offs. However, when it comes to geocoding, there’s been a lack of innovation in the Last Mile.
Geocoding transforms an address into a geographical location, ordinarily a latitude and longitude. This is particularly helpful in last mile delivery as this translates a customer inputted address into a location the delivery driver can navigate to. The process is also often carried out in reverse too. A location is entered and the geocoder responds with nearby addresses. We’ve previously explained why these aren’t designed for last mile deliveries and this is where Naurt comes in.
Naurt behaves like a standard geocoder. An address is inputted and a location is returned. Though, instead of returning a location representing the centre of the building, Naurt returns the building entrance and nearest parking zone. In addition, Naurt provides standardised unit-level addresses to ensure delivery drivers have confidence they are delivery to the correct place - even when delivering to a complex building with multiple entrances.
The results of building a geocoder tailored for last mile deliveries?
Naurt provides its parking and building entrance data via a simple HTTP API. Every month you’re able to make 4800 requests free-of-charge using your free Naurt account. Each request can either be a forward geocode; where an address is inputted; or a reverse geocode, where a location is inputted. Either way, Naurt responds with a complete address and a GeoJSON containing the building entrance(s) and parking zone. GeoJSONs can be plotted with any mapping provider or, if you prefer a more custom solution, the raw location data can be extracted in a couple of lines of code.
If you’re not a developer, but still want to dive in and take a look at Naurt’s data, we have a Sandbox which lets you click around and explore. An example can be seen below.
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Naurt can replace your current geocoding solution like-for-like. Instead of routing a driver to the centre of the building, route them to the Naurt parking zone. You’ll then be able to display the Naurt building entrances on a map to show them where’s best to deliver to. As the data is available over an HTTP API, you can access the data from any platform whether it be mobile, web, or desktop.
It’s clear that last mile delivery industry needs to increase in efficiency to find long-term sustainability. With customer demands and expectations higher than ever before, innovation is needed to ensure the last mile delivery can continue to thrive. Naurt is at the forefront of this fight for efficiency, providing precise data for the final 100 metres of each and every delivery.
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