If you manually run operations for a restaurant, grocery store or pharmacy, your team must be feeling under pressure, and rightly so. This is due to the time-consuming and chaotic nature of manual operations. If you have heard about Delivery Management Software (also referred to as Dispatch Software) but haven’t yet investigated their benefits and are still on the fence about them, this blog is for you – as we will be covering the multiple benefits of integrating a Delivery Management Software.
Manual operations can simply not compete with how speedy and organized digital ones are. Automation will not only relieve load off your team and streamline the delivery flow – it will also enhance your operations tremendously, ultimately increasing customer satisfaction. Moreover, with deeper insight into your business through data extracted from your Dispatch Software, your future business decisions will be fact-based.
Delivery Software Management, however, are not just about making day-to-day operations easier – they give you full control and visibility over your operations. They help shed light onto friction points and areas in need of improvement – while empowering operation managers (or dispatchers) with the tools to take action with agility when necessary.
So without further ado, here are the 11 basic reasons you need to make sure are not missing in your Delivery Management Software, and what they should be able to provide.
1. Order Management
The software enables you to find information easily while giving you the power to interfere and make changes if necessary, keeping you in control of the operations flow.
You can seamlessly find out the number of deliveries in the system at glance and access each order’s details with ease. You will be able to zone in on specific details and filter information based on specific store, team, driver, order status, and others.
You can access details such as where customer location, the channel through which the order was placed (aggregator, website, call center etc.), the details of the driver who had executed the delivery, as well as its Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) VS the actual time of its delivery.
Since the ability to make changes is crucial in operations – your software will empower you with the flexibility to manually assign orders when the need arises. You can choose to assign orders to a third-party delivery company during rush hour, or to drivers with card machines for Card On Delivery paying customers, etc. Manually creating orders to be dispatched is also an option. When integrating your customers’ ordering system or POS to your Delivery Management Software, you will be able to import orders manually or add them one by one.
2. Real-Time Orders and Drivers Tracking
Delivery Management Software give you a birds’ eye view of all your operations – making the tracking of all your orders and drivers easy. This can be done through a real-time map view that displays all your stores around the city as well as the drivers on their way for pickups and drop offs. The map will also enable you to easily monitor the drivers who go off the optimized routes suggested by the software.
The Dispatch Software facilitates easy access to all information regarding your deliveries and drivers in real-time. You should be able to know the exact time an order was placed, when a driver was assigned to it, when it was acknowledged by the driver, when the delivery message was sent out to your customer, when the driver had reached the customer’s location, when the order was delivered, and finally what time the driver had left back to your store – having an entire summary of the order’s journey. The same applies to drivers – you will know their current whereabouts, which drivers are currently free, how many orders each driver has been assigned for the day, the number of deliveries they have fulfilled along with the pending ones, what time they had checked-in, what time they had taken their break, and more – getting an overview of their daily activity. This gives you full visibility over your operations.
The software also allows you to monitor the different SLA breaches in real-time, helping you immediately know where the delay is stemming from (preparation time, drivers arrival to store, waiting time at store, driving time or time spent at customer’s location, etc.)
3. Automated Dispatching
Your Delivery Management Software will automatically dispatch all deliveries strategically and without manual interference. Unlike a human dispatcher, the Automated Dispatching feature is empowered with real-time data, a GPS route – and a precise algorithm that puts all the information together, matching deliveries with drivers in an error-free, speedy manner. The system will match orders with the right driver. If a customer’s location is found in an area mostly comprised of pedestrian streets, the system will match it with a motorcycle driver. If a customer has requested to pay with a card, the system will match it with a driver in possession of a card machine. The process of dispatching thus becomes accurate and speedy, ensuring a perfect delivery. Find out more about Automated Dispatching.
4. Dynamic routing
Manually giving your drivers customers’ addresses and directions increases the risk of delays and failed deliveries as drivers can get lost or confused. This wastes both time and resources – ultimately decreasing customer satisfaction.
Using a Delivery Management Software will provide your drivers with the best optimized routes calculated based on traffic and weather conditions, vehicle types, order types, Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), driver capacity, business Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and more – saving your business considerable time and resources.
5. Order Clubbing
Order clubbing means that the system assigns two or more deliveries to the same driver – to drop off in a single trip. The ability of Delivery Management Software to club orders is necessary, as it increases the Speed of Service (SOS) significantly. The software makes sure that the clubbing works in synergy with your business SLAs – avoiding any breaches. For instance, clubbing two or multiple orders will require configuring a time frame that will differ based on your business industry or operational requirements. Restaurants generally calculate clubbing from the moment the last order was placed. If for instance the time configured is 10 minutes, the system will wait for 10 minutes from the moment order A has been placed, giving other orders a chance to come through before dispatching. If order B is placed within this time range, the system will then add another 10 minutes for potential new orders to come through (provided it is in adherence to your SLAs) before dispatching.
Grocery stores on the other hand calculate the Dispatch Waiting Time from the moment the first order was placed. If you have configured the system to wait for 2 hours in between order placements – there will be no additional time added. This means that once order A was placed, there is no more than a 2-hour buffer time for any new orders to come through and be clubbed before dispatch (provided their drop off location is within the set radius, and their quantity is in line with your configurations). Find out more about Order Clubbing
6. Drivers Pooling
If you run multiple stores, the Driver Pooling will be a game-changer for your operations. This feature will enable you to share a pool or team of drivers among multiple stores. If store A is experiencing a high demand for delivery while store B isn’t, the Dispatch Software will automatically assign orders to available drivers within the shared pool – balancing the workload and increasing drivers’ utilization rate.
If you run an on-demand delivery business serving clients who are close to one another geographically, this feature will come in very handy. The Dispatch Software will enable your fleet to cover the area’s deliveries. Your drivers can be delivering meals, groceries and pharmaceutical products from different stores within the same area – regardless of their industries.
7. Cash Management
Cash payments are a delicate matter (especially when dealing with large fleets) – so having control over them is necessary. Delivery Management Software make it possible to set a limit to the amount of cash each driver can carry at a time for safety reasons.
The software will thus send you an alert once a driver has reached the cash limit in their possession, notify the drivers to return the cash to the collection center and prevent them from receiving additional deliveries until they’ve done so. The drivers will have to hand over the collected cash to the nearest cash collection center or deposit it in a bank account as per your business needs.
8. Data Analytics and Reporting
Delivery Management Software offer reports that provide deep insights into your business operations. They help you get to know your customers’ order preferences, their geographical locations, which ordering channel or platform are the most successful and more. Data is one of the most valuable assets in modern day business, as it gives guidance to decision makers. You can thus extract your Delivery Dispatch reports and upload them to analytics software that will provide you with valuable information regarding your stores, areas, orders and drivers. From the average time spent on a delivery or pick up to the count of orders generated by your stores – you will be getting in-depth insights on all elements pertaining to your operations.
9. SLAs management
With manual operations, maintaining efficient and appropriate delivery speed is tricky – which is why a Delivery Management Software is indispensable. It helps you manage your business Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and improve operational efficiency. Hence, if your delivery is late due to a longer-than-usual wait at the store for pick up or at the customer’s location – the system will showcase it, enabling you to take immediate action.
10. Customer experience
Today’s customers have high expectations and wish to be in the loop when it comes to their order delivery status – which is costly and difficult to achieve manually. Imagine your call center giving each customer a phone call to update them with their orders’ whereabouts at each touchpoint, and you’ll get the picture!
The Delivery Management Software can automatically update your customers at each stage of the delivery process – if you wish to do so. Customers will receive tracking links, which they can use to check their order status. You can configure the software to notify your customers when their orders are received, being prepared, picked up, and/or are out for delivery. This takes a load off your call center, as customers no longer need to reach out for updates.
You customers will also be able to use those tracking links to track drivers on the map in real-time, communicate with them, or even update their delivery location on the map, ensuring a correct address – without the assistance of a customer representative. Once the delivery is completed, customers can use the same link to rate the delivery process.
11. Driver app
To ensure a good customer service, it is crucial for the driver to be comfortable using the application linked to the Delivery Management Software.
Dispatch Software mobile applications are designed to be easy and intuitive, making the process as simple as possible and ensuring that no driver misses a task.
Drivers receive alerts notifying them of new orders, which they can acknowledge with a simple click before heading off for the pickup. Once they have picked up the orders, the app provides them with an optimized for delivery – ensuring time and resources optimization.
Having a large number of employees scattered around the city, dealing with your customers, and representing your brand is overwhelming. Delivery Management Software are thus designed to guard and protect each step of the delivery process with ‘digital checkpoints’ ensuring that all steps are completed smoothly and accurately. Once the driver has arrived at the store for pick up, they will be asked to scan a QR code using the mobile application as a proof of arrival. They can upload photos of received orders or enter codes provided by the operations team as a proof of order pickup. Once the customer receives the order, the driver will ask the customer to sign a digital form on the application itself as a proof of delivery. Since this method is no longer popular due to the no-touch policy adopted during the pandemic, the driver can upload a photo as an alternative.
Lyve nGage is an easy to integrate, user-friendly and innovative Delivery Management Software designed to streamline On-demand operations. Its highly configurable features and advanced algorithm makes it a bespoke tool for businesses that require On-demand delivery – regardless of their industry or size. nGage increases the overall efficiency of the final mile, making it smoother and hiccup-free.
Read our case study to find out how one of the biggest fast-food chains worldwide have increased their SOS by 78% using our Automated Dispatching feature.
Click here to request a free demo. Our team of experts will guide you through the nGage software, explain its features and demonstrate its ability to increase your speed of service along with the drivers’ utilization rate.
