{"id":5786,"date":"2020-05-21T16:26:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T14:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=5786"},"modified":"2020-05-21T16:26:41","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T14:26:41","slug":"last-mile-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/05\/21\/last-mile-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Mile Delivery Strategies During COVID-19 and Other Supply Chain Disruptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supply chains and carriers keep the global economy working amid the unprecedented conditions resulting from COVID-19, but they can seize up under extreme strain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of the focus has been supply chain resilience (large grocers and pharmacy retailers undergo increased scrutiny as the pandemic and our actions to contain it wear on)\u2014but how will a disruption like COVID-19 impact the final mile, and how can retailers adjust their strategy?<\/span><\/p>\n

Capacity Constraints<\/span><\/h2>\n

E-commerce sales accounted for 11% of all retail sales in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Imagine that most of the 89% of in-person purchases also happened online. Or, consider if all grocery and household purchases occurred online rather than in-store. That\u2019s what retailers face as consumers shop from home during the COVID-19 quarantine. It has the potential to replicate a holiday peak, but beyond the normal four to six weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

To add complexity, consumer product goods are often heavy, bulky, and more costly to ship than apparel, which accounts for more than 30% of e-commerce shipments. While the capacity exists for the long-haul moves necessary to move the product over distance, the true constraint is at the local level during the final-mile delivery, which is labor intensive, has cube constraints for neighborhood delivery vehicles, and may be governed by regulatory constraints, limiting time on the road.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last-mile strategies that retailers can use during peak demand are:<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Move as much purchasing as possible to buy online\/pick up in store (BOPIS), which removes reliance on carriers and uses stores as forward stocking locations.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Find ways to consolidate shipments leaving the warehouse.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Improve the packing or cube utilization of packaging.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Improve delivery density and decrease reliance on shipping to residences by shipping to alternative retail pickup points, such as lockers or retail access points.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Retailers should also consider the following:<\/span><\/h3>\n