4 Delivery Trends Retailers Need to Consider During COVID-19 Crisis

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to sweep across the globe and leave chaos in its wake, there's a realization from everyone that the disruption isn't ending any time soon. For retailers, there have never been tougher climates to trade in — physical stores have been closed, consumer confidence is low, and peoples are spending less on nonessential items.

With millions of consumers in quarantine, the increasing reliance on delivery and logistics services is beginning to show. Retailers are having to make decisions to firstly, and most importantly, protect the health of their employees and customers, and also to cope with the rising demand on their infrastructure and delivery services.

A recent survey highlighted that 75 percent of U.S. companies have already experienced a disruption in their supply chain, with their revenue being impacted. Furthermore, even with the rising pressure on their services, over 44 percent of companies said they did not have a plan in place to address the supply disruption.

How can retailers can minimize this disruption? Below are some of the delivery trends that retailers need to consider in today’s challenging new reality.

Unsustainable Demand for Grocery, Health and Medical Deliveries

As the increasing demand on essential items continues to rise daily, and with no clear end in sight, retailers need to ensure they have efficient access to their warehouses in order to meet this demand. Warehouse and supply chain agility is hugely important, and any break in the supply impacts a retailer’s ability to run its business.

For retailers with large distribution centers in high-risk regions, the ability to access their stocks and obtain inventory will be severely restricted. They need to be agile and have a network in place to efficiently divert and shift their stock between regions so they can get items to consumers quickly and safely.

Reliance on Single Carriers

With more people using delivery services, there's more pressure on carrier services that are working tirelessly to get consumers their items. Retailers with critical dependencies on individual carriers are at greater risk of suffering from major disruption as they’re unable to spread the load across multiple carriers.

Retailers need to integrate to more than one carrier to ensure business continuity. What happens if that carrier is unable to fulfill the delivery request? Multiple carrier integrations provide retailers with additional layers of protection and enable them to access remote inventory, navigate cross-border concerns, and help safeguard their delivery services.

Changes to Delivery Options

With the reduction of pick up/drop off (PUDO) and click-and-collect services, there's greater emphasis being placed on delivery options that minimize social interactions — even extending to drivers signing for deliveries and contact-free drop-offs. With this in mind, retailers should be flexible and be in a position to provide as many delivery options as possible to consumers in their homes. Specifically, for popular nonessential items such as sporting goods and toys, a diversification in delivery options will help carriers effectively deal with the increasing demand on their services.

Provide Transparency and Communication

During uncertain times, consumers crave certainty and direction. Many of Metapack’s customers have seen an unmanageable increase in customer contacts, leading to long wait times and dissatisfied customers. Therefore, retailers and carriers need to be clearly communicating with their customers and providing as much transparency into their operations as possible. Additional insights and information into the business and the challenges it's overcoming will help build brand trust and boost consumer confidence.

At present, we can only speculate and imagine what the longer-term impact of COVID-19 on retail and delivery will be. Have consumer shopping habits changed forever? Only time will tell. However, in the immediate future, retailers need to maintain their infrastructure, remain agile, and ensure they're able to meet the changing needs and habits of consumers in a safe, efficient and effective manner.

Duncan Licence is the vice president, global product for MetaPack Group, the leading provider of e-commerce delivery management technology to enterprise retailers and brands.