JOIN USJDA Software Product Director Vinay Mohan Sharma on Friday said that the last mile delivery has gained immense importance today, and the explosion of online shopping (which has quadrupled over a last decade) is the main contributor.
Addressing a session on ‘Last Mile Delivery and Return Management’ at the ninth edition of SCPC (Supply Chain Practitioners’ Council), Sharma cited the example of FedEx, which, in order to gain presence in ground transportation, especially access to apartments in dense urban areas in Europe, is in talks to acquire its Dutch rival TNT for approximately €4 billion. Similarly, Flipkart is partnering with Mumbai Dabbawallahs to deliver merchandise to its customers.
In India, online sales is projected to touch $100 billion by 2020, according to a Morgan Stanley study.
Sharma added, “The last mile delivery is often the most costly and inefficient leg of the entire supply chain, and one of the reasons for that is low delivery volumes arising out of a lack of opportunities in consolidation or combining of deliveries. This is the most challenging leg as well, with high degree of missed deliveries and high volume of returns.”