The large market formed from the rapid acceleration of online shopping services in Southeast Asia during the pandemic is here to stay, according to a combined study from Facebook and Bain & Company.

This could not be more evident in Singapore where the business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce market is worth $4.9 billion and expected to grow a further 8.35% in 2021. From electronics to fresh produce, people now prefer to purchase their goods online.

With the uptick in online shopping comes a rise in deliveries, too. Since product delivery is one of the most important stages in a consumer’s e-commerce experience, this is something brands must pay more attention to if they want to thrive.

In particular, businesses should get the “last-mile delivery” or a product’s journey from the logistics hub to the buyer’s address right. Unfortunately, this stage can also be expensive for businesses—unless you choose to outsource.

What is Last-Mile Delivery and Why Is It Expensive?

As mentioned above, last mile delivery is your product’s journey from a logistics hub to your customer’s address. It’s the “last mile” that the product has to travel after moving from your warehouse or wherever your inventory is located to sorting and logistics hubs.

This stage in the delivery process can be expensive for your business for several reasons, including:

• Inefficient delivery route planning/scheduling
• Inflexible delivery options
• Fleet maintenance

If your delivery service is in-house, these issues will be yours to shoulder. By outsourcing to a supply chain delivery service provider, however, you can bypass all these, making it the best option for businesses in Singapore.

The Benefits of Outsourced Delivery

Your distribution partners and customers have certain expectations about delivery times, so outsourcing delivery for your supply chain presents you with these benefits for your business:

1. Reduce operational costs

Cost-effectiveness is one of the primary benefits of outsourcing delivery. Keeping delivery operations in-house means establishing a team of delivery personnel. The cost of this model can rack up fast since it includes expenses like:

• Staff hiring and training
• Salary and benefits
• Purchasing delivery vehicles
• Maintaining the fleet

When you entrust the delivery of your products to a professional third party service, you don’t have to invest in the mentioned. You only need to have your products ready for pickup; the provider will take care of everything else.

Even your customers can benefit from your business ’lower operation costs. You can, for instance, pass your savings onto them by giving discounts or lowering your products’ retail prices.

2. Faster and on-time deliveries

It can take a while for a new in-house delivery team to master routes across Singapore, not to mention your attention will be split between fulfilling orders and delivering them.

On the other hand, outsourced delivery services focus only on one thing: providing a highly efficient their delivery system. As such, their staff is trained to find the best routes and plan the best ways to deliver items every day.

When you choose a supply chain delivery company in Singapore that has a history of on-time delivery, your partners and customers can rest easy knowing that experienced professionals are taking care of the deliveries. This creates a positive cycle between you and your customers.

3. Increase operational efficiency

Businesses that do deliveries with an in-house team tend to have problems with efficiency since they need to worry about two things at once, halving the time they should have spent on one task. This also leads to cutting corners on quality control, which can only result in subpar products.

When you work with an outsourced delivery company, you and your in-house team can focus on your core operations. This means a more efficient order packing system and better quality control. With more time spent on these processes, you can make a world of difference in how customers receive your product.

4. Improve brand image

More affordable products that have gone under quality control in addition to speedy deliveries— this is a future that you can make your own when you outsource your delivery needs. In turn, you can use it to give your business an advantage over competitors.

These improvements make a positive impact on your customers. And when customers feel good about your brand, they become your loyal patrons, further strengthening your brand image.

Services That Deliver

The e-commerce sector is competitive, so you need to make decisions that will widen the gap between you and your competitors. With the business benefits stated above and more, it’s evident that outsourcing your supply chain delivery is a step in the right direction.

Let Singapore Trust Services drive your business to the forefront of your industry with our supply chain delivery services. We cater to enterprises from different industries, offer year-round deliveries and provide other services like contract delivery across Singapore.

For a one-stop delivery logistics company, get in touch with Singapore Trust Services today.