For e-commerce websites, the next competitive advantage will be autonomous drone delivery. It is not just a new way to sell products, but it is also an opportunity to make customers feel at ease while shopping. Customers no longer have to wait for a courier to come and deliver their items, they can receive them in just a few minutes from now.
What’s more? It can be done in real time, whenever needed. Not only that; orders placed by people who are not able to come into physical stores will get delivered at their doorsteps as well. If you want your e-commerce site to tackle this challenge and become the next Amazon of tomorrow, read on for some insights about how Amazon leveraged its existing infrastructure and processes to achieve this goal. Let’s see how you can do the same with your own website!
What does Amazon do to achieve same-day delivery?
Amazon leverages its existing infrastructure, technology, and processes to achieve same-day delivery. They have a vast network of fulfilment centers all over the world. This allows them to serve millions of customers daily. They use a process called “just-in-time”, a logistics strategy where inventory levels are kept as low as possible.
In other words, products are stocked in warehouses where they are stored only until they are ordered by customers. To ensure only the required quantity of each product is kept in these warehouses, they have an automated process called “fulfilment centres”. They use data analytics to identify products that have the highest demand and set up “fulfilment centres” accordingly. Once an order is placed, the product is identified, packed, and shipped to the customer’s address.
Inspiration and Research
For a company like Amazon, with a large customer base and a reputation for being ahead of the curve, spotting new trends can certainly be challenging. For autonomous delivery, it was easy for the company to spot the potential of the market. All they had to do was look at the existing infrastructure that they have built, analyse the customer behaviour, and draw conclusions based on the same.
They also understood what it would take for them to compete in this market. To begin with, Amazon doesn’t just want to sell products; they want to serve customers at any time of the day or night. To achieve the same, they need a robust delivery network. They also require a way to track and route packages. So, they have hired thousands of people who have years of experience in related fields. These are the employees who can create and integrate software that can help them deliver packages with autonomous drones.
Data-Driven Working Principles
Amazon leverages data-driven working principles to make their logistics work efficient. For example, they use data to choose the right time to order products to avoid inventory shortages and to reduce the time it takes to deliver. They also use data to gauge customer demand to plan the necessary number of fulfilment centres to meet customer demand. Furthermore, they use data to forecast consumer change in demand, to run efficient marketing campaigns, and to improve their design of the website using A/B testing.
Pre-Delivery Checklist
For Amazon, one of the most important things for autonomous delivery is ensuring that the package is as secure as possible. This is why they have started conducting random inspection of certain items to ensure that the package is safe to fly. They are also asking their customers to report suspicious packages by tagging them with a number. They require that the package be delivered to the address and that the customer signs for it. So, the package can be scanned by the delivery driver to ensure that it has no defects.
The Final Stretch: Delivery of Order Items
Once the package is scanned and delivered, it can be opened by the customer and inspected. If the items are authentic, the customer can rate the delivery driver. If all goes well, the customer can post a review about the experience of delivery and the service. If the delivery was not what the customer expected, he or she can complain to Amazon. This can be a powerful tool for the company. So, it is important for Amazon to ensure that customer delivery experience is good.
Conclusion
Amazon has shown that it is possible to make deliveries by drone. Now, it is up to the e-commerce website to take advantage of this opportunity to establish themselves as the next Amazon of tomorrow. If you are ready to dig in and make this happen, it is important to note the following: For successful implementation of autonomous drone delivery, it is important to understand the reasons why customers prefer same-day delivery.
It is important to have a customer service team that can accept and address customer complaints. It is important to have a robust infrastructure that can support drone delivery. It is important to have an automated process to track packages. It is important to have data scientists who can leverage the data collected to predict customer demand. Above all, it is important to have a well-thought-out business strategy that provides the necessary resources to achieve this goal.
