Throughout recent years, consumer culture has experienced a gradual transition away from traditional, in person shopping, to an online marketplace. The pandemic quickly accelerated this transition, undergoing growth that was originally predicted to take 10 years in 6-12 months. This has caused demand for shipping and delivery services to increase at unprecedented rates and has driven a fierce competition to adapt and fulfill customers’ orders as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Consumers now not only prefer, but expect, high quality, convenient, and fast shipping options. This leaves the logistics companies to rapidly adjust to the higher expectations of the consumer. These expectations concern the most expensive and time-consuming part of the supply chain process; last-mile delivery. Last mile delivery, or last mile logistics, refers to the final supply chain process where the goods are delivered directly to the customer, and has become increasingly vital to a company’s survival.
Last mile delivery is the stage of production that most determines customer satisfaction- customers want to be able to track their order every step of the way and have it delivered at a precise time that is convenient for them. In order to accomplish this, a company must have extensive resources to deliver quickly within a wide range of areas as well as the technology to provide accurate tracking information along the way.
Companies across all industries find themselves unable to keep up with the spike in demand for instant delivery, as it often proves to be costly, complex, and a distraction from their core business processes. When a firm finds itself unable to keep up with the fulfillment demands of its customers, it looks for an external source to better handle the logistics concerns that they cannot effectively manage themselves. This is where third party logistics companies, such as Mail Boxes Etc., prove to be invaluable.
Mail Boxes Etc. is a third-party provider of shipping, fulfillment, print, and marketing services for small to medium-sized businesses that operates through an extensive network of independent franchise locations. The company is designed to take over non-core business activities so that enterprises can prioritize their most essential operations. This unique business structure makes MBE a highly equipped company to handle such unprecedented demand spikes and to adapt to logistics trends, such as the emphasis on last mile delivery practices.
MBE’s many franchise locations allow for companies and individuals around the world to have access to specialized delivery and fulfillment processes that are constantly evolving and improving. Businesses are able to utilize the expertise of MBE entrepreneurs in all areas of logistics and can get back to focusing on their core processes. For any firm, being able to keep up with logistics trends like last mile delivery means being able to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
