[Column] Antonio Bruni: On-demand delivery on the rise

On-demand delivery is gaining a lot of popularity as a result of the current business and economic challenges and many businesses are expanding their operations by jumping on the digital bandwagon.

To expand their business reach, traditional brick and mortar stores have launched new apps and e-commerce sites. Retailers have also acted quickly by reconfiguring their delivery models, especially with an array of new cost efficient on-demand delivery models that are available at the click of a button.

Online shopping will fill the vacuum that has been created by permanent closures of physical shops. This has given rise to virtual selling platforms that showcase products and engage consumers, providing a much richer customer experience.

Convenient click-and-collect services are being offered to consumers, increasing curb side pickup and delivery services for general merchandise and electronics has increased. As a result, there has also been a significant increase in online grocery orders.

As the digital and in-store world's merge, ecommerce innovations happen faster and this has led to an enormous evolution in the delivery space.

On-demand delivery
The market for fast innovative delivery has grown considerably as consumers transform and become more tech savvy. Shoppers place a premium on same-day or faster delivery and are willing to pay for quick grocery deliveries.

However, on-demand delivery models require advanced delivery systems and a sophisticated software to manage the new store to door delivery approach. Its important to implement a frictionless solution that ensure scale. Other considerations include a re-prioritisation of staff staff to manage order fulfilment and on-time dispatching.

These changes are here to stay, online shoppers plan to continue shopping online. So traditional retailers have to change their business models or risk becoming obsolete.

Customer demands
Modern day customers expect exceptional customer service and have huge demands including express deliveries with accurate arrival times. But can retailers offer these services without increasing costs.

To only way to reduce the time spent in the last mile is by adopting innovative technologies like Picup. Its on-demand delivery solution not only calculates the fastest routes for its driver but has the ability to order merge trips on the fly optimising both efficiency and costs. It also reduces fuel and maintenance costs for the driver network.

Crowdsource delivery
Picup is different from conventional couriers because its advanced technology and fleet management tools enable companies to deliver using their own fleet, a third party courier or its own crowdsourced driver network.

Crowdsourcing is the answer to these expectations, it is one of the largest opportunities for on-demand delivery companies today.

Antonio Bruni is the CEO of Picup