Farrukh Mahboob, founder and chief executive officer of PackageX, explains why technological advances aren't keeping pace with the intensifying service demands of e-commerce customers.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon.com was changing the expectations of e-commerce shoppers, who today demand one- to two-day delivery of most orders, Mahboob says.

Actually, he says, they want three things from the merchandisers with whom they choose to do business: visibility, convenience and speed.

Visibility is essential to the customer who wants to know precisely where their package is at every step of its journey. That includes knowing where and when the delivery will take place.

Convenience means providing the buyer with options as to how and where they want to purchase product, whether online or in store, and how they want to receive it, whether through direct delivery, pickup in store or curbside for a “no-touch” experience.

The need for speed is obvious, as consumers grow increasingly impatient about waiting for their orders to materialize. Again, says Mahboob, it’s important to offer choices, so that the buyer can weigh its preference for rapid delivery against the cost of rushing it to the doorstep.

The problem for many e-tailers is that they lack the technology to deliver on that triple promise. E-commerce is a major reason why around 200 billion packages are delivered around the world each year, with the number rising by 20% a year. But to manage that massive volume efficiently, and meet customer expectations for doing so, businesses must have modern-day applications at hand.

“Supply chain and logistics systems are built to support the needs of 20 to 30 years ago,” Mahboob says. Today, systems must be flexible enough to adapt to new fulfillment models, whether for in-store purchase, ship from store, pickup in store or even processing from a micro-fulfillment center. “We need a modern, flexible technology back end to deliver on expectations,” he says.