The 5 features to look for in last-mile software

With the rise of e-commerce and, especially, after the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of Last mile has become increasingly complex.

This is a stage that is still present, as many companies struggle to cover each and every one of the customer's needs: satisfactory and fast deliveries, contactless, flexible deliveries or with an efficient reverse logistics policy, among others.

In order to meet all of these expectations (and many others!) , logistics companies are required to redesign their last-mile strategy in order to continue in an increasingly competitive market. It is therefore essential to consider new ways of proceeding with last-mile delivery, since traditional logistics models have become obsolete, since they will not be commensurate with the current expectations of users.

In this case, the scanning is the key piece of this puzzle, since it will be what will allow your company to keep up to date within the sector. In this regard, articles such as the The digitalization of the Logistics Sector, everything you need to know about the company of the company Spring Professional, emphasizes the importance of digitalization in a sector as challenging as logistics.

Here are the aspects you should consider when selecting appropriate and efficient last-mile management software.

Easy deployment

There are countless tools on the market that aim to manage the last mile. However, not all of them meet the first essential requirement: easy implementation.

By this we mean to easily incorporate software, without the need to invest significant human, technical or temporary resources. You should buy software that makes your work easier and doesn't increase it, logical, right? Choose a tool that is easy and quick to implement, which in a matter of a few hours you can use at 100%, without having to invest too much time in explanations or meetings. Choosing complex tools makes it harder for people who have to use it on a daily basis to be more difficult to adopt and tend to keep doing things as usual.

3-in-1 tool

The last mile encompasses many processes, all of them of equal relevance. Therefore, it is very important that you consider choosing an appropriate software that covers all possible needs. The three fundamental pillars you should look for in a route manager are the following:

Planning: it must have the route planning service, in order to ensure the correct management of the operation taking into account parameters such as mileage or travel time. With the right software, this will be an autonomous task, in which you will not have to invest time and with an optimal result, since it will always offer you the most efficient route.

Tracking: In the same way as planning, being able to monitor the operations in real time will be very useful for you to be able to face changes or possible setbacks that arise.

Communication: Being able to keep your customers informed at all times to notify them of the change in the status of the service or even that they can monitor their service in real time is already another requirement of any platform. Transparency and direct communication with users is essential for their satisfaction with our company.

Flexibility

As we mentioned before with the planning and monitoring process, there may be changes throughout the operation that hinder the success of the operation, for example, a change of schedule. Therefore, it is necessary to have a tool that has sufficient flexibility to be able to make such changes throughout the operating process, such as being able to modify schedules as needed or to transfer a service from one driver to another, among others.

Honest costs

Sometimes it is likely that we are very clear about the needs of our operations but, on the other hand, we do not choose the right software because they can have exorbitant costs or hidden costs of implementation, training or integration. It is important to prioritize when choosing a tool that adapts to the costs of our operations and has a fixed price per license.

Many software charge their customers for services performed with countless extras. Imagine that you have hired a last-mile management tool that charges you for each service performed and, in your case, you have had a very good month with many services. Would it really be a successful month for you? Because a large part of your income would go to software and not to you. So now you know, you don't have to share your successes, be smart!

Guaranteed support

Everything mentioned so far wouldn't make sense if you don't have the support you need, especially when you're starting out with the tool. Look for a last-mile manager who can guarantee you adequate and personalized support at all times. Run away from big corporations with answering machines and choose help One to One.

And now that you know everything to look for in specialized software in the last mile, don't you know where to start? Choose the one that Do everything. Impossible? Not at all! With SmartMonkey Planner you have all these features and many more.

If you want to position yourself at the top of logistics, join Planner. In addition, you can sign up now without obligation, we have a free 10-day trial period.

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Do you want to know if you make some of the most common mistakes in the last mile and how to fix them? Go to our article The 4 mistakes to avoid in the last mile and we explain it to you.