The definitive and independent guide from Last Mile Experts
E-commerce and, increasingly importantly, re-commerce are growing fast, and the success of any last mile carrier now hinges on being able to develop commercially tenable and customer centric out of home (OOH) operations due to their cost and operational efficiency as well as their green last mile benefits. Clients regularly ask about how to choose the right smart locker for their business.
Accordingly Last Mile Experts has created a series of four white papers covering key areas to look at:
- Selecting the right hardware
- Selecting the right software
- Creating the right network
- Perfecting your PUDO
This document covers all the key elements you need to look at before choosing your software and software supplier.
Further white papers, covering the other three above mentioned areas, will give you a holistic picture of how to create the right OOH network for your business giving TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) savings, a better CX (Customer Experience) and products and scalable processes that will work…we know, because we’ve helped dozens of companies get this right!
More importantly, we have also seen a few failures, and that is a learning that we can help you avoid. In this document we have collected experiences from the perspective of a logistics operator, e-commerce marketplace player, pure last-mile provider and hardware producer. Each case is different and please remember there are rarely two identical situations.
Finally, all these proven tips are included in Last Mile Expert’s unique “Perfecting PUDO’s and Lockers” workshop, details of which can be found here: https://lastmileexperts.com/workshops/
Step 1: Preparation & understanding what you need
While we often stress that software is the “secret sauce” that will make any OOH network successful, in practice, this is often relegated to only one of the of the secondary elements in parcel locker selection.
Out of home software comprises the firmware that makes the parcel locker or PUDO hardware work (generally supplied by the producer) and the operating software that allows you to manage your network and the IDM (interactive delivery management) software that allows you to communicate with the consignee.
Before holding any discussions with parcel locker (APM) manufacturers and/or PUDO partners, it is important to clarify whether they (or you) have the software to make your OOH network successful. To do this it is essential that discussions take place with all stakeholders including users and your tech team and to create a detailed list of requirements for your software.
Things to bear in mind will include:
- Business needs including specific requirements and operational processes of your business and parcel Locker and/or PUDO network.
- Non-functional Requirements such as Security and Data Protection, System Responsiveness, Stability and self-diagnostics backups, Maintainability, Reliability, Service Level and Updates (ideally most should be possible to be done remotely, in reality not all can be done this way).
- Whether the software can support the various types of APM hardware you currently have and plan to have in the network.
- Understanding the operating software environment and required integrations with other systems such as payment systems, databases or monitoring software.
Step 2: Checks & balances
Any reasonable tender or selection process will only be as good as the checks and balances in place. A good process will prioritise factors in line with their importance for your business model. Knowing this will help you make better choices and to avoid pitfalls such as buying a software that doesn’t meet local legal requirements or that cannot support the hardware you have bought.
Let’s take a look at some of the key factors to review:...