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Track and Manage Empty Bottles with Bottled Water Delivery Software

July 1, 2024

Are you consistently losing your empty water bottles? Then you might be managing them manually.

Manual bottle management can be a tedious task and has the chances of human errors, which might lead not only to losing bottles but can also lead to financial losses. Read this blog to see how to track and manage empty bottled water using bottled water delivery software.

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Table of Content

Introduction

The advancements in technology with bottled water delivery software have made tracking and managing empty bottles precise and easy. The software aims to streamline processes, optimize inventory management, and enhance overall efficiency in bottled water distribution to ensure seamless operations and customer satisfaction.

What is bottled water delivery software?

Bottled water delivery software is a cloud technology, that works on a subscription-based scheduled delivery business model. It automates and streamlines business operations such as order processing, recurring payment collection, multi-stop delivery planning, inventory management, and empty bottle management (water reverse logistics) and generates reports and analytics.

The delivery software offers three components that work together, making the water distribution process easy. The three components of the water delivery software are:

1. The admin panel
2. The customer app
3. The water delivery driver app

Features of water delivery software

This delivery software offers various features that simplify and optimize water distribution services. The features of water delivery software include:

Order processing – The customers can place a one-time or subscription order. They can choose the delivery frequency (daily, alternate, and custom-day deliveries), select delivery schedules, and the number of deliveries according to their preference. Customers can edit, reschedule, and cancel orders before the preset cut-off time. They can also pause and resume their bottled water subscription order. The water delivery driver app allows drivers to place new orders, modify, reschedule, or cancel the delivery on the run. The admin can also place orders for their customers and make changes to the orders.

Recurring payment collection – The system generates recurring invoices monthly or weekly, depending on the admin’s settings. Customers can pay online or in cash.

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Stock management – The system automatically generates stock reports. The report has precise details about stock available, extra stock required, and total stock to fulfill customer demand. A precise stock report helps avoid stockouts and overstocking.

Delivery planning – The online water delivery software allows the admin to create delivery areas and routes. They can define schedules. The delivery routes and schedules are allotted to the drivers. The route is optimized and sequenced, creating the shortest delivery route. The sequenced route is updated on the driver app for deliveries. The customers and the admin can track their orders and drivers with GPS navigation.

Empty bottle tracking – Admin can track and manage empty water bottles. The driver app allows drivers to record the number of filled water bottles given to customers and the empty bottles taken from them.

Generates business reports – The system auto-generates business reports, including sales reports, customer reports, transaction reports, empty bottle reports, stock reports, and revenue reports.

Benefits of water delivery software

The features discussed above streamline the water distribution process and improve efficiency, productivity, and profitability. The benefits of implementing water delivery software are:

Improved efficiency – The software automates the water delivery operations, which minimizes the chances of human errors. Improved data accuracy increases order accuracy and on-time deliveries, improving customer satisfaction.

Enhanced productivity – Automation removes the need for manual tasks. It improves task efficiency, allowing business owners to complete more tasks at the same time. Route optimization reduces delivery time, allowing businesses to serve more customers.

Improved customer experience – Allowing customers to place and manage orders from the mobile interface enhances the customer journey. Enabling real-time tracking, receiving order status updates, and offering flexible payment options improves the customer experience.

Reduced operational costs – Automating the business removes the need for human interference and does not require hiring staff. It also minimizes human errors and reduces rework and costs. Features like route optimization reduce the total turnaround, minimizing fuel consumption and delivery costs. The empty bottle tracking management feature helps you keep a record of the bottles, reducing the chances of losing them and avoiding financial losses.

Scalability and sustainability – The system is highly sustainable and can expand with your increasing customer base. It gives businesses a competitive edge in the market. The software makes your water distribution business ecologically, socially, and financially sustainable.

What are the challenges faced in manual empty bottle tracking?

Empty bottle management refers to tracking and monitoring water bottles available in stock, bottles given to customers, and bottles returned by them. Managing water bottles manually is a tedious task and includes certain challenges;

  • Tracking manually relies heavily on human input, which increases the risk of human errors. Miscounts can occur due to distractions, fatigue, or simple oversight.
  • Manual tracking is time-consuming and at risk of human errors, increasing operational costs and slowing speed.
    Inaccuracy is common even when the counting is done carefully. Variations in bottle sizes or conditions, including broken and incomplete returns, can result in discrepancies in the bottle count data.
  • Misplaced bottles can impact the environment, cause plastic pollution, and create sustainability issues.

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How can you track and manage empty water bottles with delivery software?

The bottled water distribution management software is an integrated technology that automates and optimizes business operations, improving efficiency and the customer experience. Monitoring and managing empty bottles is one of the main issues facing businesses. Here is how delivery software helps manage empty water bottles:

Bottle tracking

The system allows delivery drivers to record the number of bottles collected from customers, given to the customer, and extra bottles left with them. The data gets auto-updated on the admin panel in real-time. The admin can access a detailed report for bottle reports and payment history.

Set pricing to bottles

Admin can set pricing for the bottles. The prices are added while billing and are charged to the customers at the time of payment. The amount is adjustable. It is adjusted back and forth into the wallet when empty bottles are taken and returned to the driver. Prices are automatically added to invoices if bottles and products are linked.

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Link products to the bottles

The bottles can be linked to the product. Linking products with bottles helps track bottles. This can help you track your bottles. You can also set pricing for the bottles, making them priceable. They appear automatically in the invoices and the amount is adjusted when the customer receives and returns bottles.

On-demand bottle pick-up request

Bottled water delivery businesses are mainly subscription-based. Customers can request an on-demand bottle collection if their subscriptions are about to expire or if they wish to cancel them. Allowing customers to make on-demand requests for collecting empty water bottles gives ease to customers without calling the water distribution service, improving the customer experience and satisfaction rates.

What are the benefits of managing empty water bottles?

Tracking and managing empty water bottles using water delivery management software offers several benefits to water delivery services. It aims to reduce the ecological impact and add revenue.

The benefits of managing empty water bottles with water delivery management software are:

Improved inventory management – The software keeps a precise count of empty bottles returned and ensures inventory control. It maintains an optimal stock level of bottles, reducing shortages and excess bottles.

Enhanced customer service – The system can help you schedule and optimize routes for empty bottle pickups, improving customer satisfaction. Customers can check the status of their empty bottle returns and deliveries. It enhances trust and clear communication.

Cost saving – It prevents the loss of bottles and can be a significant cost-saving measure. Efficient routes can save fuel and reduce wear and tear on delivery vehicles.

Environment impact – It encourages the return and reuse of bottles, reducing waste and promoting recycling. Efficient delivery and pickup routes reduce carbon footprints.

Billing and accounting – Ensure accurate billing for full and empty bottles. It keeps track of bottle ownership and returns, ensuring accountability for delivery service and customers. It improves transparency and reduces customer disputes.

Operational efficiency – It automates and streamlines the process, reducing manual efforts. The system provides real-time updates on total bottle counts and returns, facilitating quick decision-making.

How can TrakOp help your business manage and track empty water bottles?

TrakOp is a SaaS-based cloud software specially designed for subscription-based scheduled deliveries. It is a unified platform for managing recurring order processing, payment collection and reconciliation, delivery planning, inventory management, and reverse logistics (reverse logistics for empty containers). The software aligns perfectly with the needs of bottled water delivery services. If you are also looking to improve your bottled water delivery operations: book a free demo.

Hope You Enjoyed the Read!

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.