Consumer demands revolve around fast shipping practices and immediate transparency with a shipment from the time they confirm an order. To keep up with the rise of online shopping and expedited shipping, technology is helping the logistics industry evolve.
It’s important for shippers to keep on top of the latest tech advancements, not only to meet demands, but to reduce stress as well. If you’re looking for ways to implement new technology into your supply chain, here are the latest, most popular methods that the top logistics companies in the nation are using.
Social Media
It’s vital that businesses are on social media as a means to communicate quickly with their customer base. Plus, social media is one of the main ways that customers follow the latest news with the companies they frequently use. If stock runs out, there’s a disruption or you have a new service to announce, social media is the fastest, efficient and most cost effective way to share. As well, it’s a great tool for customer support, giving you a way to respond to customer questions and messages quickly.
Apps
For truck drivers, there are numerous apps that help make life on the road easier. From audiobooks to health trackers, meal planning and organization, there is an app for that! Some popular ones include:
- Truck Smart: Check fuel prices, submit service requests and make parking reservations
- GasBuddy: Gives truckers a map across the country with fuel prices for comparison
- BigRoad: An electronic logbook to easily track hours of service
- CamScanner: Quickly scans documents to be saved on a device or sent to someone else
Shipment Tracking System
Online shopping has given rise to expedited shipping, with consumers expecting their packages in as little as a day. At the same time, since online shopping is becoming the norm, trust is essential- mainly with tracking an order. In the past, a consumer would put in their payment info, confirm the order and then hope for no hiccups during the delivery. If there was an unfortunate delay, they had to call a customer support hotline and devote time and energy to finding a solution. Nowadays, shippers are adopting automated tracking systems that lets consumers track their package on their smartphone, whenever they want an update. It’s visual, precise and nixes those tense customer support calls.
