Conversations, debates, and webinars are focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) expansion and how the logistics industry must adapt to stay on top. In a more controversial view, some in the field believe AI won’t change the industry by leaps and bounds in the next few years.
JJ Velaz, CEO and founder of Kosmo, sat down with Locate2u for a wide-ranging interview about customers’ expectations for same-day delivery. He says machine learning has been applied to the sector for the last 10 years.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it (AI’s influence) in the last year since the whole boom in AI started. I’m not so, let’s say ‘greedy’ about it. When you think about logistics, the main advances in AI in the last year have been around generational AI conversational content creation.”
Velaz believes logistics is more about automation and assigning orders. “[It’s about creating routes that can be done with AI, but that can be done in other ways. I think it’s not so much about AI but about how can I leverage existing technology to automate stuff.”
Same-day delivery for small retailers
Velaz believes it’s “very simple” to offer customers same-day delivery if you build your own fleet, but for many small businesses, it could be “challenging.”
He has advice for smaller companies, to still tap into the expectation of normalizing same-day delivery. “Nowadays, you can already find same-day delivery couriers in most cities worldwide, at least in the major cities. So I would really try to find someone like this.”
There are, in fact, still companies relying on “old-school logistics delivery systems,” but this doesn’t allow them to compete with same-day delivery.
Customers expect same-day delivery
There seems to be an expectation for same-day delivery, and companies not using the right technology, have to shape up. Velaz believes it’s just a matter of time before more companies will fall away because they can’t deliver what customers have become used to.
Here are five reasons why same-day delivery is important.
- Customers are expecting fast delivery times, due to the influence of companies like Amazon setting higher standards.
- Offering fast deliveries can give your business a competitive advantage when customers have to decide whether to wait three days for a parcel or receive it immediately.
- Fast deliveries are key to a positive customer experience. Delayed deliveries can lead to dissatisfaction.
- It helps to build brand loyalty, and customers are more likely to return.
- Market dynamics are changing rapidly. To remain competitive, businesses have to make the switch.
NOW READ: Normalizing same-day delivery to survive in the competitive retail sector
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About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
