Survey: Retailers have big plans for same-day delivery

Despite a number of common supply chain issues, retailers are very interested in the potential offered by same-day delivery.

According to the “2022 Bringg Barometer: State of Retail Delivery & Fulfillment” survey of 500 enterprise retailers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, and Italy, an overwhelming 99% of respondents say they will be doing same-day delivery within the next three years, compared to 35% able to do so today. 

Looking closer at respondents not currently offering same-day delivery, 36% say they don't have the technology, citing real-time order visibility as the main problem; and 24% cite the sheer distance they need to travel from warehouse to fulfillment as a primary obstacle to delivering on time.

Additional survey findings include:

• 44% of respondents are managing multiple fulfillment channels with disparate technologies, and 61% cite problems with visibility into the last mile.
• The biggest pain points when it comes to scaling delivery are a lack of real-time visibility once the order is out for delivery (according to 61% of respondents), 55% called out the inefficient manual nature of the way they currently plan and dispatch their orders, and only 35% have fully automated last-mile delivery and fulfillment operations.
• When it comes to pain points associated with fast and on time delivery, a lack of data is a central concern for retailers due to real time order visibility (51%) and travel time (49%). This problem is exacerbated by multiple delivery partners, as 26% of retailers say they are struggling with visibility when working with third parties.
• Retailers are moving away from a reliance on a single traditional carrier and are pivoting to a mix of providers to connect with their customers faster, with 55% of respondents using multiple fleets for last mile delivery. 
• Sustainability and carbon emissions are an important consideration, with 56% of respondents using fleets with electric vehicles, and one in three using bike fleets. 

“Retail Supply Chain: Navigating Through Rough Waters with Improved Agility,” a new study of retail supply chain issues from Retail Systems Research (RSR) and Blue Yonder, also shows widespread issues in retailers’ supply chain capabilities. Only four in 10 (41%) surveyed retail respondents say they can monitor capacity and add more when market conditions demand it, down from 56% in 2020. Four in 10 respondents can currently understand the impact of bottlenecks and prioritize which ones need to be addressed, down from 48% in 2020.

"The retail industry is reinventing itself and adjusting its fulfillment operations to the current market eruptions which are paving the way for cost-effective fast fulfillment," said Guy Bloch, CEO of Bringg. "From what we've seen in our latest barometer report, the retail industry is highly agile, with a third of retailers (33%) highly confident that they can pivot to respond to new, pandemic-driven customer behavior. With a need for more delivery capacity, greater tech innovation and stronger partnerships with providers, now is the time for the 49% of 'somewhat' confident retailers to prove that they, too, can be agile enough to improve delivery speed and convenience. To get there, retailers will need to connect and automate their delivery network resources, processes and technologies, and adopt hyperlocal fulfillment as a goal for 2022.”