The Difference Between Routed and Scheduled Deliveries

Featured in Freight Waves.

Fast and high-quality product deliveries play an important role in enhancing the retail purchase experience. Whether you’re running an online store or a brick and mortar location, partnering with the right delivery provider is crucial.

With ecommerce giants like Amazon offering reliable same-day or next day delivery options, modern-day retailers must adapt their delivery strategies to beat the competition. Damaged products and delivery delays can drive off loyal customers. Additionally, it could take a toll on brand credibility and reputation. According to research, “unsatisfactory shipping options” drive 77% of consumers away from ecommerce purchases.

But when it comes to selecting delivery providers, retailers are often overwhelmed with unfamiliar terms, such as routing and scheduling. In fact, business owners and logistics providers frequently interchange these terms.

However, it’s important to understand that there are striking differences between routed and scheduled deliveries. You must be aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each technique before selecting a delivery option and provider. In this blog, we’ll delve deeper into routing and scheduling, helping you understand how each technique fits into your delivery strategy. 

Let’s get started.

Scheduled Delivery: An Overview

Scheduling is the practice of assigning specific time windows and delivery professionals to each order. In other words, scheduling defines who will attend to different deliveries at what time.

A scheduled delivery provider considers various factors, such as the number of available vehicles, drivers, and executives. They accept requests from different retailers and create delivery timelines based on vehicle and manpower availability. Post that, the delivery provider assigns each executive to specific time windows.

The main purpose of scheduling is to ensure your products reach customers at the right time. It also optimizes workforce availability by helping determine how many workers are need on a specific day.

Routed Delivery: An Overview

Routing is the process of determining the most optimal delivery routes based on a pre-defined schedule. A routed delivery provider uses high-end route optimization software to determine precise delivery routes based on weather, traffic, and vehicle capacity constraints. The main goal of routed delivery is to minimize travel time and fuel costs. Also, it skyrockets the efficiency of delivery professionals.

Working with a routed delivery provider helps you reduce shipping costs while ensuring customer satisfaction. According to a case study by McKinsey, algorithmic route optimization helps logistics providers achieve a 16% increase in profits without compromising quality.

The Combined Power of Routed and Scheduled Delivery

Both routing and scheduling use software-based algorithms to ensure timely order deliveries. While routing focuses on optimizing travel time and cost-efficiency, scheduling ensures proper manpower utilization. Modern-day retailers should keep an eye out for delivery partners that combine the best of routed and scheduled deliveries, like Dolly. 

Harnessing the power of routing and scheduling offers the following benefits:

Enhanced Customer Experience

The end goal of routing and scheduling is to ensure your products reach customers on time. Both techniques minimize delivery delays while reducing fuel costs and manpower spending.

Moreover, route planning and scheduling software let customers track the delivery status and ETA. It improves transparency, helping you customers’ trust while improving their experience.

Also, it becomes easier to modify routes if customers reschedule deliveries or a vehicle breaks down. Proper routing and scheduling ensure that your delivery requests aren’t impacted by cancellations or vehicle unavailability.

Optimized Shipping Costs

With effective route planning and scheduling, delivery providers can cut various costs, including fuel and manpower. They help eliminate overspending due to longer routes and wasted work hours. That, in turn, lets you offer more customer-friendly shipping rates.

Affordable shipping rates help you acquire new customers and win their trust and loyalty. Lower rates also encourage existing customers to make repeat purchases. All these factors contribute to your company’s bottom line and help you generate more revenue.

Guaranteed Scalability

With route planning and scheduling, your delivery provider is prepared to handle a huge number of delivery requests. As your business grows and attracts new customers, scheduling and route optimization tools seamlessly accommodate more order deliveries. Likewise, if your business experiences a seasonal surge in sales, routed and scheduled deliveries help you cater to growing customer demand.

In either case, it helps you take your business to greater heights without worrying about delivery delays.

Final Takeaways

Encouraging customers to make a purchase isn’t enough. Modern retailers must prioritize order fulfillment to retain customers and drive repeat purchases. Delivery activities also play a key role in determining a customer’s post-purchase experience. 

Despite their differences, routing and scheduling ensure seamless product deliveries. They help optimize resource utilization and costs, which can translate into more revenue and happy customers.

Dolly provides on-demand last-mile delivery solutions for modern-day retailers. Reach out to us for more information about our routed delivery services.