Touchless Fulfilment & Shipping
Published on : Thursday 01-10-2020
The process of touchless fulfilment and shipping could be initially difficult to line-up, but it is necessary, argues Jenis Sheth.
The transportation and logistics industry founded newer ways to go touchless during this pandemic. We reside in truly strange times. If someone had said in the past that 5+ billion people would be living under a complete lockdown in fear of a deadly virus, that person would have been laughed at for expressing such a possibility. But here we are, months after the discovery of the Covid-19 virus in Wuhan, a global pandemic. With global cases having crossed 25 million, proactive and reliable methods are required for businesses to survive during this post-lockdown era.
This means that the pandemic has not only raised adverse and unfavourable health and living conditions within the society but has also brought a wide variety of opportunistic disruptions for innovations to flow in. One such instance is that of the transportation and logistics industry. Not too way back, consumers had many options like Buy-in-store / Buy from a catalog / Buy online. As e-commerce continued to grow, buy online morphed into two options:
1. Buy online & deliver to home, and
2. Buy online & pick up in-store.
Then Covid-19 hit and a third option for buy online became popular:
3. Buy online & pick up at the curb.
There are some clear facts – ‘Buy online and deliver to home’ is the costliest for the retailer and/or the customer. ‘Buy online and pick up in-store’ and ‘Buy in Store’ have the best opportunity for add-on sales. But ‘Buy online and pick up at curb’ is the most convenient in current times.
Other two exceptional options are:
1. Buy in Store, and
2. Buy from a Catalog.
The only reason to ‘Buy in Store’ is that you wish to interact with the merchandise (see it, smell it, touch it, taste it, hear it, test it out or try it on), select a unique item, or simply for the enjoyment of shopping in-person; and the only reason to ‘Buy from a Catalog’ is that if you do not have a computer or a smartphone.
CPG & E-comm supply chains are already reopened across the globe, and now it is very important that organisations strictly follow the set protocols. One of the ways by which CPG & E-comm has innovated to suit the pandemic time frame is ‘Touchless Fulfilment and Shipping’– a timely measure that is saving a lot of lives all over the world. Let’s dive more and explore the concept.
Touchless fulfilment and shipping (new normal)
It is the process of actively taking measures to limit close body touch to third-party individuals during the entire supply chain. Food aggregators and QSR chains have now innovated a brand-new method to deliver essential items, medicines, and medical equipment safely and securely. In case of such a delivery, the delivery partner leaves the order on a clean surface outside the customer’s door. The customer would then be notified with a call, ringing the doorbell, and even sharing an image of the delivery before marking the order as delivered.
Example – At the restaurant chain, the restaurant staff who assembles the food, the one who packs, and the delivery person do not touch the food with bare hands and take all possible precautions to ensure hygiene. The packets are sealed and delivered by a delivery person, who drops the order at a pre-appointed spot outside your door and then watches from a safe distance while you retrieve your order and go back inside. With social distancing, the ‘Zero-Touch Fulfilment & Shipping’ option seems like the necessity of the hour.
Here are a few guidelines:
Delivery Protocols
Pick up from source point:
1. If possible, avoid direct touch with loader, equipment, lifts, etc.
2. Practice social distancing!
Delivery to quarantine locations/health centres:
1. Seek advice for local authorities and ensure you perform touchless fulfilment and shipping
2. Make sure you adhere to the delivery protocols at your delivery location
Example of touchless pick-up/delivery to practice social distancing:
Kindly be aware and observe Protocols from authorities to reduce the spread of Covid!
For loading/unloading jobs:
1. Limit the distance a minimum of 2 metres from individuals with symptoms. Avoid any body contact e.g., shaking hands.
2. If someone has gotten in touch with anyone with symptoms, please make sure you sanitize or wash your hand.
3. As someone performs the duty, please report to the authority or supervisor immediately if you’re not well.
Here is one of the examples for the identical – Deliveroo Foodscene.
The process of touchless fulfilment and shipping could be initially difficult to line-up, but it is perhaps the sole answer to ensure business continuity during and post-lockdown pandemic. End- customers place an order ? make their payment online ? get delivered without ever coming in any touch with the delivery agent. This may make sure that there are fewer reasons for the public to step outside of their homes. It’ll also ensure greater availability of supplies and help to follow the protocols of social distancing.
Digital and touchless payments
The most important enabler and perhaps, the backbone of the complete procedure, is that the existence of a smooth payment system. The most important contributor to trust in business is ensuring that money is processed in a safe, ordinal manner. A consumer can ensure this by having a tight integration that supports all modes of payments – credit card, debit card, net-banking, UPI, and pay-later options.
Tracking and transparency
A shining beacon of sunshine during the chaos of delivery is the tracking facility. A live tracking status that updates the customer can go an extended way in reducing confusion about the order status. Ensure that the customer is additionally attentive to all the available pickup slots around their zip code. Also, it’s advisable to create sure transparency every step along the way i.e., order confirmation, merchant details, delivery status, refund status if any, etc.
Touchless fulfilment and shipping in an exceedingly cash-driven
developed/developing/underdeveloped country
It is perhaps too soon to know the true impact of touchless fulfilment and shipping on business but what we do know is that they’re a source of hope to confirm BAU (Business As Usual) during and post-Covid times. Few rays of hope during this turbulent time are that a lot of data companies have predicted e-commerce to create a powerful comeback after restrictions are lifted. This could mean unusually high demand that may be slightly overwhelming, especially if businesses are understaffed. However, with adequate motivation for frontline workers and therefore the right strategy, the approaching times could also be a bit less harsh than what we’re expecting. Establishing the right touchless fulfilment and shipping loop can be a difficult task to stay up but it looks like the sole resolution to form your business thrive within the post-lockdown era. A serious part of the issue lies within the state of last-mile payment digitisation where the hinterland places piece would be more challenging with lesser amplification of internet
penetration.
It’s a weird time for business right now. Ecosystem stakeholders must come up with creative ways to remain open because the world juggles with this ongoing public-health crisis.
Jenis Sheth is a Digital Supply Chain Consultant, Market Researcher, Trend Watcher, Critical Thinker, Sales Enabler, T&L Futurist, Influencer in Supply Chain and Supply Chain Analyst. A dynamic Transport & Logistics enthusiast and a SCM professional offering 15+ years of experience of conceptualisation, identifying, evaluating & delivering impressive bottom-line results in supply chain tech. Sheth has produced a continuous stream of organisational development and innovative solutions to the business of IT Product & Solutions; and conceptualised and implemented effective business strategies, and demonstrated strong management skills during several complex projects. He is an effective communicator and influencer who also embraces ideas and perspectives and eagerly collaborated with diverse ideas. As an enterprise strategist & prolific writer, Jenis focuses on the changing face of enterprise technologies. His research is designed for the early adopter seeking first mover advantage.
