Logistics loses out in the last mile

Transportation and logistics (T&L) companies are losing customers and missing opportunities to expand their business due to outdated last-mile delivery technology, according to a new global research report by mobile and IoT management solutions provider, SOTI, which looks at the technological challenges that today’s T&L businesses are dealing with.  

Despite the T&L industry dealing with unparalleled demand and strict social distancing measures, the report discovered that almost half (49%) of all transportation and logistics companies globally, and 41% of those in the UK, agree their organisation has outdated technology, rising to 56% of all large organisations (those with 5,000 to 10,000 employees worldwide). 

The Last Mile Sprint: State of Mobility in Transportation and Logistics report, commissioned by SOTI, interviewed 450 IT decision-makers in the T&L industry across the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, Sweden and Australia, to gauge their opinions and understand the trends and solutions that are driving them. 

Outdated technology is losing customers  

Half (50%) of all T&L executives globally, and 37%% of T&L executives in the UK, whose organisations are using outdated technology, believe they will lose customers, or have already lost customers, because of it. While almost a third (30%) of all senior management directly attributed using legacy technology to falling behind their competitors.

Opportunities are being lost 

This outdated technology is also affecting T&L companies’ ability to expand and/or respond to challenges in the current climate. More than a third (37%) of all companies globally, with outdated technology, said that legacy technology has prevented them from sufficiently upscaling during the COVID-19 crisis, while 36% of all companies globally, and 31% of those in the UK, agreed their organisation would benefit from having improved real-time support for mobile devices during times of crisis. 

‘Mobile-first’ strategy seen as the solution 

By adopting a mobile-first strategy, T&L companies can gain visibility into critical aspects of their supply chain and leverage real-time decision-making to improve workforce productivity and create better, more responsive experiences. Twenty-nine percent of all senior executives said that introducing or growing a mobile-first strategy is their current priority to drive their business forward.  

“In today’s fast-moving T&L sector, companies must adapt their supply chains with mobile technology to help simplify workflows and drive efficiency in their operations. Failing to do so could have a devastating effect on their business, especially now when speedy and trackable deliveries are no longer a ‘nice-to-have’, but a customer expectation,” says Todd Greenwald, General Manager, Heartland Computers, Inc. 

Meanwhile, two-thirds (65%) of all respondents, and 52% of those in the UK, agreed their organisation would benefit or has already benefited from having an effective mobile-first strategy for the last-mile delivery. More than half (58%) of all, and more than a third (35%) of those in the UK, surveyed, who already have a mobile-first strategy for last-mile delivery, agree that it’s effective and has reduced their operational costs. 

Shash Anand, Vice President of Product Strategy, SOTI, comments: “The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the rapid shift we’re seeing from brick and mortar retail to e-commerce, and the stakes have never been higher. As consumers increasingly turn to online retailers to fulfil their purchasing needs, fast shipping is no longer a luxury – it’s an expectation. T&L companies are falling behind with outdated technology, especially around the last-mile delivery, and it is resulting in lost customers and missed opportunities.”