Scheduled Delivery – Let Customers Pick Delivery Date and Time

November 27, 2023

As long as delivery charges are not applied, fast deliveries are always welcome, as many customers’ delivery preferences tend to change over time. Most customers prefer free delivery and receiving the product later to paying delivery charges and receiving the order faster.

As the on-demand delivery model is on the verge of collapsing, many businesses, especially grocery businesses, have shifted to the scheduled delivery model. In this article, we’ll discuss how scheduled delivery works and is more efficient than on-demand delivery.

What is the scheduled delivery?

Scheduled delivery is the type of order fulfilment in which customers pick a date and time of delivery among the schedules pre-defined by business managers. It gives them the flexibility to pick the time of delivery as per their availability to receive the order.

Having a defined order delivery schedule gives customers an accurate delivery time window and helps them plan their day more efficiently rather than waiting for the order the entire day.

Now, let’s see how scheduled delivery actually works

The advanced features of delivery management software streamlines and make it easy to operate schedule-based business.

Order placement – Customers place their order via the customer interface and select the date and time for delivery before checking out the order. The business manager gets the order placement notification in the admin panel. Order accuracy is crucial for accurate order fulfilment.

Stock management – Stock management is a crucial step in scheduling delivery, and any error in stock management can lead to order cancellation or delayed order fulfilment. The business manager checks his inventory and procures the product that is not in stock. Unavailability of stock can result in increased customer backorder rates. He sorts the orders and gets them packed.

Assigning orders and route optimisation – After an order is sorted and packed, it is auto-assigned to the driver. All orders received on that particular route are sequenced, and the route is auto-optimised. Route optimisation and order sequencing ensure reduced delivery turnaround times.

Order picked and shipped – The businesses then pick, pack, and arrange orders in sequence and then ship them out for delivery. Drivers find it easier to deliver orders when they are arranged in the same sequence as deliveries. As the order is picked, packed, and shipped, customers get real-time order status updates. On-time pickup and on-time shipping are important for on-time delivery.

Order out for delivery – When the order is out for delivery, customers can track their orders in real-time. Integrated telematics technology allows customers to directly communicate with the drivers in case of delayed deliveries due to any reason. Customers prefer direct communication even if there is an issue, and having transparency increases customer experience and satisfaction scores.

Order fulfilment – The order is delivered to the customer with a one-time password or delivered image as proof of delivery (POD). Proof of delivery is associated with the number of shipments that were completed with POD and the total number of deliveries completed over the same period of time. It can be used to measure the efficiency of scheduled deliveries.

A scheduled delivery is a win-win model for both customers and businesses. Scheduled deliveries are more efficient and cost-effective for both businesses and customers. However, managing scheduled deliveries can be nerve-wracking if the business cannot optimise deliveries regularly.

Trakop is an integrated SaaS platform for scheduled delivery businesses like grocery, dairy, bottled water, and cloth diaper delivery. Talk to our team of experts if you are looking for any scheduled delivery-related advice or software to automate your scheduled delivery business.

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ravi garg, trakop, founder signature image

Ravi Garg Founder & CEO

He loves to explore. His passion for helping delivery industries in all aspects flows through in the vision he has. In addition to providing smart solution to make delivery process flawless, Ravi also likes to write sometimes to make it easier for people from business industry looking for digital solutions.