Transportation cos losing customers due to outdated last-mile delivery technology: SOTI

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and logistics (T&L) companies are losing customers and missing opportunities to expand their business due to outdated last-mile delivery technology, according to a new global research report by mobile and IoT management solutions provider, SOTI, which looks at the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discovered that almost half (49%) of all transportation and logistics companies globally agree their organization has outdated technology, rising to 56% of all large organizations (those with 5,000 to 10,000 employees worldwide).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Outdated technology is losing customers

Half (50%) of all T&L executives globally, whose organizations are using outdated technology, believe they will lose customers, or have already lost customers, because of it.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This outdated technology is also affecting T&L companies’ ability to expand and/or respond to challenges in the current climate. More than a third (37%) of all companies globally, with outdated technology, said that legacy technology has prevented them from sufficiently upscaling during the COVID-19 crisis, while 36% of all companies globally agreed their organization 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 agreed their organization would benefit or has already benefited from having an effective mobile-first strategy for the last-mile delivery. More than half (58%) of all 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.”

“By implementing a robust mobile-first strategy, companies will not only be able to provide better customer experiences, but will increase speed, minimize costs, ensure transparency in the delivery channel for the customer and edge out the competition. Equipping T&L staff with the most up-to-date technology and having an integrated mobility and IoT management platform in place is not only a powerful customer retention strategy, but an effective operations strategy too.”

Report Methodology

Arlington Research, an independent market research agency, conducted 450 interviews using an online methodology amongst IT Managers, IT Directors, Senior Management and C-Suite in the T&L vertical across six countries (Canada, U.S., UK, Germany, Sweden and Australia). All respondents work in companies with 50 or more global employees.