What’s the greatest opportunity to encourage repeat purchases? Does it lie within the ease of online ordering, or does it perhaps have a more personal touch—involving the moment a customer opens the box they’ve been anxiously awaiting? The answer is a combination of both. Any interaction could mark success or be the kiss of death for future retail or wholesale purchases. And, in today’s highly-competitive and uncertain age, losing customers can mean the difference between business growth or lost market share. Shippers and logistics service providers (LSPs) need a way to look beyond the risks and ensure positive experiences. Fortunately, the application of a transportation management system (TMS) can help, and by understanding a few things about the use of a TMS for customer experience improvement, you can achieve scalable, positive outcomes.
Customer Experience Problems Arising From Antiquated Logistics Management
A TMS should be a centralized resource that offers end-to-end management for all freight regardless of mode. This is one of the reasons more companies have turned to cloud-based TMS platform providers, such as MercuryGate, to work together and share information. Collaboration in logistics translates directly into immediate improvements within customer experiences due to more on-time deliveries, delivery in full, lower overhead, and better service levels. Take this example of how using a TMS for customer experience improvements can improve supply chain collaboration, as reported by Food Logistics:
Tips to Apply Functions Within the TMS for Customer Experience Improvements
- Connect all supply chain systems to the TMS.
- Use analytics to understand performance versus expectations.
- Take advantage of robotics process automation to manage by exception.
- Work across organizational silos with cloud-based resources.
- Share data with your supply chain partners.
- Reduce the delays between replenishment and order fulfillment.
- Take advantage of drop shipping and cross-docking to reduce inventory carrying costs.
- See relevant information within user-friendly, customizable portals.
- Create customized reports on demand to keep shareholders informed of results.
