With online sales growing at an average rate of almost 65 per cent year on year in Australia, according to the ABS, delivery is now a mission critical part of the business. But when it comes to reining in costs, many businesses don’t know where to begin.

“Most retail businesses focus on their product or marketing. That’s fantastic, but when you look at your cost structure, 10-30 per cent of it can be freight. How much time are you investing in trying to understand what’s driving those costs?” said Chris Ristovski, founder and CEO of delivery management platform SubTrux. 

“Your costs will never change unless you understand where the costs are coming from and why.” 

Part of the problem is that many businesses lack real-time data because they rely on paper-based information and outsource deliveries to third-party providers, so their delivery costs are lost in translation and they can’t make informed decisions.

“Businesses are really at the mercy of the different transport providers,” Ristovski said.  

“But with technology growing at such a rapid rate, now more than ever businesses need to say, ‘Hang on a minute, we need to have full visibility when it comes to outsourcing our deliveries. We need to know what you know!’”

Real-time data

Ristovski started SubTrux in 2015 to help businesses manage different delivery providers and their own vehicles all from the one platform. Now, in line with customers’ needs, he has released a new live reporting dashboard coined DIFOTX (Delivery In Full On Time Multiplied) to empower businesses to make informed decisions, improve efficiency and effectively manage and reduce their costs.  

Using the dashboard, businesses can see at a glance how many deliveries they need to make each day and whether they have the capacity to meet their delivery requirements. If there’s a shortfall, they can easily source more vehicles via the SubTrux marketplace to deliver their orders within hours, enabling them to scale without capital investment in real time. 

They can also stay on top of key metrics such as their average cost per delivery and cost per item delivered, so they can protect their margin as they grow online.

“It’s the real-time data and the ability to calculate your delivery costs at a moment’s notice that enables businesses to plug any leaking holes quickly. Without it, how can you build a successful profitable business long term?,” Ristovski asked.

And yet, most businesses today are forced to rely on historical information to make delivery decisions, if they have access to any detailed information at all. 

“If I were to ask what your average number of deliveries per vehicle per day was, most retailers wouldn’t know the answer, but that’s the sort of deep-dive information that they need,” Ristovski said. 

Some of the key delivery metrics in the DIFOTX dashboard are: driver and vehicle capacity, time per delivery, cost and item cost per delivery, vehicle cost per km, customer reviews and driver reviews. This is backed by and recorded via live maps, ETA notifications, vehicle monitoring, real-time track and trace, customer to driver messaging and a tailored suite of business critical reporting tools.

Customer experience

Another benefit of the dashboard is that it gives the entire business access to live delivery data. Oftentimes, this information is tied up with the transport team, which makes it hard for customer service service staff and others to do their jobs without access to the information. 

But when businesses have more transparent delivery data, they’re able to provide a better customer experience, which is a critical factor in today’s competitive retail environment. 

“We always talk about how important the customer experience is, but we need to understand what’s driving it,” Ristovski said.

For today’s customers, one of the top priorities is information. They have a wealth of information at their fingertips, but too often, the delivery experience is failing to meet expectations. Retailers that respond to this information gap with transparent delivery data, can earn customers’ trust and ultimately their loyalty. 

The core components of a seamless customer experience are same-day shipping options, real-time visibility of the exact location of the order throughout the entire delivery process and contactless drop-off, and that’s what the DIFOTX dashboard enables. 

At the end of the day, it’s all about having access to the critical information that empowers businesses to reach their full potential.

Click here to find out more about how SubTrux can help you make more informed delivery decisions.