• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Q&A | They Want It Now: The Age of Same-Day Delivery

Q&A | They Want It Now: The Age of Same-Day Delivery

December 3, 2018
Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Once considered a premium option — assuming it was available at all — same-day service is now the standard for many e-commerce shoppers. Mike Honious, chief operating officer of Geodis Americas, explains how retailers are meeting that goal.

Q: What are some of the trends that you see in the marketplace right now with regard to same-day delivery?

Honious: It's pretty exciting. Five years ago, we weren't even talking about same-day. People were just happy to get their packages once they ordered them online. Now, over 50 percent of buyers expect to get their orders within two days or less. Same-day delivery is the gold standard today, and  wantythe momentum is just going to keep going.

Q: How are same-day delivery companies addressing urban congestion, which is getting worse all the time in the big cities?

Honious: What I tell people is that you’ve got to look at your brand. You want to build brand loyalty and understand the consumer. Are they happy with two-day delivery in part of the country? Are you going into an urban area, where 80 percent of the population is? Do you want to set up small distribution points where you can feed merchandise on a same-day basis in those areas? You don't have to be everything. You just want to be where your customer is.

Q: For some companies, delivery efficiency is the brand.

Honious: That's exactly right, and as you build the volume around same-day, that cost is going to get less and less. People today are actually paying for that type of service.

Q: What’s the trend in how companies are achieving same-day delivery? Are they using their own trucks, and their own people? Are they looking to the ride-sharing model? How are they actually executing on this?

Honious: We're seeing a mix. In the omnichannel world, you've got companies with their own brick-and-mortar operations. They might have their own distribution centers, or be using a 3PL. You’ve got to look at it as building blocks. What’s your core competency, and what are you really good at? What do you need a professional to do? A lot of 3PLs now are focusing on same-day. How do you build that into your network? You’ve got to find the right match.

Q: Say I'm a supply-chain professional with company XYZ. I want to get started with next-day or same-day delivery. How do I approach the question of how I’m going to execute on that, how much I’m going to rely on technology, and on in-house versus outside expertise?

Honious: You want to understand where your company is in the marketplace. What kind of access do you want to have to your customers? Where can you add value in the delivery process, in a way that's not a large cost to your company? You need to understand the different types of distribution and logistics processes, including the 4PL model. Will you go after regional carriers? Can they provide the same service as a national carrier? You also need to get feedback from consumers as to their expectations.

We’re moving into a world where everybody is going to want same-day delivery. I truly believe the marketplace is going there.

Q: How much thought should companies be giving to the technology side, such as the use of drones and robots?

Honious: The labor market is really tight now. Innovation is happening because of that. What you need to be looking at is the technology around middleware and your I.T. infrastructure. How can you tie different systems together, to the point where they become seamless? You don't want to design the system to do everything, because next year it will be totally different.

Q: Do you expect customer demands to get even more intense, to include hour-specific and appointment-based delivery?

Honious: A lot of municipalities and cities are driving that. You need to know their rules and regulations as to what you're allowed to do. Then you can set up expectations with customers on the front end, and give them some choices. They just want their orders delivered at the time you promised. If you do that, you’ll have happy customers.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Last Mile Delivery Logistics Express/Small Shipments Inventory Planning/ Optimization SC Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility Quality & Metrics Apparel Consumer Packaged Goods E-Commerce/Omni-Channel Food & Beverage Retail
KEYWORDS Apparel consumer packaged goods E-Commerce/Omni-Channel Express/Small Shipments Food and Beverage Inventory Planning/ Optimization last mile delivery Logistics Quality & Metrics Retail same day delivery SC Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility
  • Related Articles

    Q&A | How E-Tailers Are Meeting Demand for Same-Day Shipping

    40 Percent of Shoppers Want Same-Day Delivery, Study Says

    A Same-Day Delivery Provider Drops Out, But the Race Goes On

  • Related Events

    The Big Picture: What It Takes to Make Last-Mile Delivery Work

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Crafting a New Transportation Bill: The Battle Begins

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Seeks $1.9 Trillion for Relief Bill; India to Supply Millions of Vaccine Doses to Neighbors

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. and China Trade

    How China Won Trump’s Trade War and Got Americans to Foot the Bill

    Global Supply Chain Management
  • Obtaining Adequate Supplies of PPE in the Pandemic

    Watch: Obtaining Adequate Supplies of PPE in the Pandemic

    Coronavirus
  • AT&T

    How the Pandemic Has Altered AT&T’s Global Sourcing Strategy

    Coronavirus
  • Chip Shortage Hits Global Automakers

    Chip Shortage Hits Global Automakers

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing