As e-commerce expands beyond city centres, warehouses are moving closer to customers. This shift makes last mile delivery the most important (and expensive) stretch of the journey.
New research from Locate2u’s 2025 Last-Mile Delivery Survey reveals a shift in how customers view delivery speed, transparency, and brand trust.
And it’s clear: people want both fast delivery and reliable delivery.
Reliability Is the New Speed
According to the Locate2u survey, 32.7% of respondents said reliability is the most important factor when choosing a delivery service. This outranks both cost and speed.
It also marks a major shift for retailers who’ve spent years competing on “fastest” rather than “most consistent.”
Customers are now more concerned with certainty than instant gratification.
The data also shows that 66.5% of Australians want live tracking updates, while nearly half want delivery windows narrowed to a few hours instead of all-day ranges.
Put simply: transparency is now part of the service.
What Can Retailers do?
“Density is really important for doing delivery well at an affordable price,” says Locate2u founder Steve Orenstein. “It means the amount of orders within a certain delivery area.”
“It’s a high density that makes things really cost effective, which is why delivering in metro areas is so much cheaper than doing rural deliveries.”
In his book Delivery, Orenstein writes: “If you’re a small retail store, think about whether you have the ability to service your customers that are within a 5 to 10 kilometre (3 to 6 mile) radius. Really focus your online and offline marketing efforts to those customers, offer a same-day delivery service to customers in those areas.”
Why Warehouse Location Matters
This growing expectation for visibility and accuracy in last-mile delivery has a measurable impact on how businesses plan their logistics footprint.
Rather than relying on large, centralised warehouses on the city fringe, many brands are adopting a micro-fulfilment model. This move positions smaller hubs closer to demand hotspots.
Locating stock within 10 to 15 kilometres of customers can cut kilometres off every trip. It also means fewer failed deliveries and reduced fuel consumption.
Beyond just improving metrics, this shift also directly impacts how consumers experience the brand, and of course, whether they leave a 1-star complaint or a 5-star review.
ALSO READ: Delivery Fails: How to Turn Bad Reviews into Customer Loyalty
Sustainability Through Smarter Routing
The same survey found that more than 58% of respondents want retailers to adopt greener delivery practices, even if it means choosing a defined delivery window instead of instant dispatch.
That’s good news for logistics teams trying to balance speed and sustainability!
Route optimisation software and real-time tracking now make it possible to group deliveries by suburb and reduce total kilometres without compromising ETAs.
It’s proof that sustainable operations and customer satisfaction no longer need to pull in opposite directions.
The New Competitive Edge: Transparency
As a delivery business, you see all these steps as logistics. And that’s fine, it moves your business forward.
Customers, though? They don’t see logistics. They just see confidence.
When they get live ETAs, proof of delivery photos, driver information, and proactive notifications, they stop worrying about where their order is.
That experience alone builds customer loyalty.
Last Mile Delivery: What Comes Next
Same-day and next-day delivery will continue to grow. So, we expect to see more warehouses embedded within metro zones.
We can also expect an influx of smarter routing software powering delivery fleets and a stronger link between logistics and customer experience.
Retailers and transport providers, if you’re still asking if you need to modernise, the battle is already lost. Because the question now is not if. It’s how fast you can adapt.
Key Takeaways from Locate2u’s 2025 Last-Mile Delivery Survey:
- 32.7% of Australians rank reliability as the top factor in delivery choice.
- 66.5% want live tracking and real-time updates.
- 58% prefer greener, more efficient delivery windows over speed.
- Transparency and communication now outweigh price as trust drivers.
About the author
Cheryl has contributed to various international publications, with a fervor for data and technology. She explores the intersection of emerging tech trends with logistics, focusing on how digital innovations are reshaping industries on a global scale. When she's not dissecting the latest developments in AI-driven innovation and digital solutions, Cheryl can be found gaming, kickboxing, or navigating the novel niches of consumer gadgetry.
