What is Last Mile Delivery?

Last mile delivery refers to the process in which goods move from a warehouse or transportation hub to the customer or final delivery location. The “last mile” is the last step in the delivery process. It’s often seen as a key driver of customer satisfaction but can be the most time-consuming and expensive part of delivering products to customers.

What is the Last Mile Problem?

The main problem with last mile delivery is the cost. Just this part of the shipping process alone can account for 53% of the total cost and businesses pay for about 25% of that portion themselves. The efficiencies are also part of the problem. When delivering to a rural area, there may not be as many drop-off zones to speed up efficiency. And in cities, traffic congestion can also lead to packages arriving later than desired.

It’s because of this that many e-commerce companies have turned to use location-based crowdsourcing apps to get people within the area to deliver to others nearby. They also use multi-carrier shipping software to help them reduce costs when delivering to customers.