Although same-day wholesale delivery presents various challenges, it also offers significant advantages.
While this option has been successful for businesses like Amazon, it may not be the best fit for your company. Does this mean you shouldn’t give it a shot, however? Not necessarily! As long as you have the necessary resources to start and maintain a same-day delivery system, it could do wonders for your wholesale business.
In today’s article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of same-day wholesale delivery to help you determine if it’s right for your business. But first, let’s take a quick look at what same-day wholesale delivery is.
What Is Same-Day Wholesale Delivery?
We define same-day wholesale delivery as a type of shipping model where a business delivers bulk orders to customers the same day they placed the orders. Sometimes, this method even completes deliveries within a few hours of order placement. It’s kind of like pizza delivery, but on a much larger scale.
Weighing the pros and cons of same-day delivery alone may not provide a definitive answer on whether you should implement it or not. After all, you must also consider the requirements for successfully executing a same-day delivery setup for your wholesale business.
Advantages Of Same-Day Wholesale Delivery
By using a same-day wholesale delivery system, businesses can gain two significant advantages:
1. Enhanced productivity
When employees know that all orders placed during the day must be delivered that same day, it drives them to work harder and more efficiently. This motivation leads to faster order fulfillment and allows for the business to close out orders sooner.
2. Streamlined management
With same-day wholesale delivery, you won’t need to manage a backlog of orders waiting to be shipped. Because you process and ship all orders on the same day, you eliminate the need to plan and decide when and which orders you should ship to their respective buyers.
Disadvantages Of Same-Day Wholesale Delivery
Same-day wholesale delivery can cause a business the following issues:
1. High capacity level
To power a same-day wholesale delivery service, your business needs to sustain a high level of output. Otherwise, you won’t meet your customers’ demands.
Consequently, this also means you’ll need abundant resources. After all, you’ll need skilled staff, cutting-edge equipment, and expansive floor space – all of which, unfortunately, comes with a hefty price tag.
2. Limited Efficiency
Same-day orders can pose a daunting challenge to any business, especially where grouped picks are concerned.
When customers order similar items, said items can be clustered and selected by a designated order picker, leading to a more streamlined process. However, given that all orders must be delivered on the same day, it’s difficult to amass sufficient orders to form a group, thwarting the efforts to enhance efficiency.
Same-Day Wholesale Delivery: What It Takes
On their own, the advantages and disadvantages of same-day wholesale delivery may not seem like much. They may even convince you that offering this service is the appropriate choice for your company.
You should take these pros and cons seriously. However, to determine if same-day wholesale delivery is truly right for your business, you must also consider what this shipping method requires.
The fact of the matter is, there’s a lot involved in running a same-day delivery service, as you’ll see below.
1. You need to be efficient and flexible
For a same-day wholesale delivery system to work, your business must be a well-oiled machine with a dynamic workforce that can adapt to any challenge. Thus, your team needs to be composed of high-capacity individuals, both human and mechanical.
In addition, your staff needs to be flexible enough to switch roles on a dime to keep up with the ever-changing demands of the job. A delivery driver who can also handle packaging? Yes, please! An administrative assistant who can help with order fulfillment during peak times? Absolutely essential!
Every member of your team needs to be a pro in their specific area of expertise, from warehouse management to customer service. By optimizing each person’s skills and abilities, you can streamline the order fulfillment process and ensure that deliveries go out on time, every time.
2. Order pickers need easy access to orders that need to be picked
To ensure prompt packaging and delivery, order pickers require convenient access to orders that demand immediate attention. To be more specific, they should be able to retrieve the orders swiftly without the need to rummage through boxes. After all, their primary responsibility is to pick and package the items.
To facilitate this process, dedicated personnel must be designated to stock and replenish the picking area regularly, keeping it clean and well-maintained. This allows the order pickers to easily access the orders and perform their tasks efficiently.
3. You must limit activities in the picking area during peak order times
Toward the end of the workday, order volume tends to reach its peak, coinciding with the busiest time for order pickers. To ensure optimal efficiency, you should minimize all non-essential activities in the picking area during these peak periods. This will allow order pickers to focus on their tasks and perform their duties with efficiency so that they can meet their targets and ensure the timely delivery of orders.
4. You need specific tools and equipment to ensure efficient operations
To ensure smooth and efficient operations, you must equip staff with the tools and equipment they need to perform their tasks effectively.
Depending on your business, this may mean providing truck lifts, pallet jacks, flat-bed carts, ladders, tape guns, strapping cutters, calculators, markers, and any other tools pertinent to their work. On top of that, you must ensure that these tools are readily available in sufficient quantities to avoid delays and prevent disruptions to the workflow.
By providing staff with the necessary equipment, you enable them to work effectively, ultimately contributing to the overall success of the operation.
5. You need sufficient floor space
To ensure prompt delivery, you must dispatch orders hourly instead of scheduling them for later.
As a result, you’ll need to have a spacious area dedicated to sorting, picking, packaging, and dispatching orders. This area must be sufficiently large to accommodate the high volume of orders, enabling order pickers to work efficiently.
By providing ample space for the sorting and dispatching of orders, you can ensure the timely delivery of products, which is essential to the satisfaction of your customers.
6. You need highly skilled and highly motivated staff
Achieving same-day wholesale delivery can be quite challenging. Thus, for this system to succeed, you’ll need exceptionally skilled professionals who’ve honed their craft over the years.
In addition, you need to keep your staff motivated to ensure optimal performance. Furthermore, your staff must be well-trained and have the ability to work together seamlessly as a team. Only a team that’s committed to excellence and collaboration can achieve the desired results in the competitive world of same-day wholesale delivery.
Is Same-Day Wholesale Delivery Right For You? Consider These Other Factors
Are you wondering whether same-day wholesale delivery could benefit your wholesale business? The answer is entirely up to you.
First, consider the logistics required to make this speedy service happen. Take stock of your location and customer base – if the majority of your clientele is situated nearby, offering them same-day delivery could serve you well.
But don’t stop there. You’ll want to delve into your customers’ preferences, as well. While some may be content with a five-day wait time, most shoppers don’t mind waiting a bit longer if it means free shipping. On the other hand, some won’t hesitate to pay for the convenience of receiving their purchases in just a few hours.
Of course, don’t forget to consider how this shipping method may positively or negatively affect your business.
Only after weighing all of these factors can you make an informed decision about whether to invest in same-day wholesale delivery.
Conclusion
To know if your business will benefit from same-day wholesale delivery, you have to consider this shipping method’s advantages, disadvantages, and requirements.
To recap, you should consider the following factors before deciding whether or not this shipping method is right for your wholesale business:
- The advantages of same-day wholesale delivery
- The disadvantages of same-day wholesale delivery
- What same-day wholesale delivery requires
- Other considerations
Do you have any questions about same-day wholesale delivery? How about the set of tools that can help you run your wholesale business with optimal efficiency? Let us know in the comments section below!
