How Can Scalable Delivery Solutions Increase Ecommerce Sales?

Story by: Soham Chokshi

he UAE is currently the most advanced ecommerce market in the Middle East and North Africa, securing the position of the 27th largest market globally. Previous studies have shown an estimated annual growth of 23% between 2018 and 2022. However, today, the market revenue is expected to show a CAGR of 7.7% from 2023 to 2027, resulting in a projected market volume of US$13.7 billion by 2027. This growth is driven by factors like the increasing affluence of the UAE population, the growing penetration of smartphones and the internet, and the rising availability of online payment options.

As the ecommerce market in the UAE continues to grow, there is an increasing need for shippers and retailers to deliver orders quickly and efficiently while also ensuring that they meet the expectations of their customers in terms of tracking, convenience of delivery and feedback. Scalable delivery solutions are essential for shippers and retailers who want to succeed in the booming ecommerce market in the UAE. By investing in these solutions, businesses can improve their delivery speed, efficiency, and customer service, ultimately leading to increased sales.

From third-party logistics partnerships to on-demand delivery services and emerging technologies like drones and autonomous vehicles, ecommerce players strategically embrace innovations to ensure efficient order fulfilment and customer satisfaction in an increasingly competitive market. Considering the global competitiveness, the UAE has strived to offer various scalable delivery solutions available in the UAE, including:

• Multi-courier management platforms allow shippers to connect with multiple couriers to choose the best option for each delivery. Such a platform improves last-mile serviceability, standardises customer communications across 3PLs, optimises costs and drastically increases the delivery success rate. It empowers retailers to quickly partner with hyperlocal and express delivery providers to offer new delivery options like same and next-day delivery.
• Auto-allocation of orders: Using ML, auto-allocation tools seamlessly assign orders to riders, 3PLs and vehicles based on delivery SLA, promised delivery date, cost, distance and multiple other factors.?
• Route Optimisation: It empowers businesses to generate the most efficient routes for thousands of orders through hundreds of riders, with 200+ constraint parameters, in just a few clicks. The optimiser allows different strategies focused on different objectives, such as minimising costs, minimising delivery time, minimising the use of market vehicles, and maximising the use of capacity. Delivery managers can compare how the different strategies perform across delivery time, cost and other metrics through the routing playground, for a certain number of orders and drivers.?
• Territory and workforce optimisation: Territory and workforce optimisation empower logistics service providers to address fixed costs involved in last-mile deliveries. In other words, costs related to vehicle and workforce make up for almost 75% of last-mile costs. It enhances workforce utilisation by systematically dividing regions into smaller, well-balanced areas, ensuring equitable workload distribution among courier partners.
• AI-powered incident management: Such a tool proactively and continuously analyses logistics KPIs. It notifies the right stakeholder in real time in case of any anomalies or if any operational thresholds are about to be breached to prevent failures. Businesses can set their thresholds and time limits to ensure that the incidents or issues raised by the tool are highly accurate and tailored to their unique business requirements. It leverages AI to come up with the thresholds automatically to understand what is going wrong.

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The future of scalable delivery solutions in the UAE

The future of scalable delivery solutions in the UAE is poised to drive sustainability in the logistics sector through advancements that optimise vehicle selection for environmentally conscious deliveries. These solutions will leverage data analytics to determine the most suitable and eco-friendly vehicles for specific deliveries, promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) due to their low emissions and operational costs.

As the UAE pushes for sustainability, the adoption of EVs is expected to rise significantly, supported by the government’s initiatives and incentives. Brands in the UAE have already started incorporating EVs into their delivery fleets, reducing carbon emissions by 15-20% and setting a trend for more comprehensive EV integration in logistics operations.

The anticipated expansion of the e-commerce sector in the UAE is set to amplify the demand for scalable delivery options further, intensifying the imperative for shippers and retailers to discover effective solutions. This burgeoning requirement elevates the prominence of SaaS logistics management solutions, which may have been previously overlooked due to specific limitations but are now taking centre stage as a pivotal tool to address these mounting delivery challenges.

We expect to see several new developments in scalable delivery solutions in the future, including:

• The use of drones and other autonomous vehicles for delivery
• The development of more sustainable and cost-efficient last-mile delivery solutions
• The use of big data and artificial intelligence to optimise delivery routes

These developments will help to make scalable delivery solutions even more efficient and cost-effective. As a result, they will play a vital role in the continued growth of the ecommerce market in the UAE.

Scalable delivery solutions are essential for businesses that want to succeed in the booming ecommerce market in the UAE. By investing in these solutions, companies can improve their delivery speed, efficiency, and customer service, ultimately leading to a hike in sales.

The future of scalable delivery solutions in the UAE is bright. As the ecommerce market continues to grow, we can expect to see even more innovative solutions that help businesses meet the needs of their customers.