When thinking about the future of delivery, it’s easy to think that some of the concepts are far-fetched or straight out of science fiction. For those who are content to stick with the status quo, these “out there” ideas might even be unsettling. In the not-so-distant future, we may look up into the sky and see delivery drones flying by or have our parcels delivered by robots. Before we look too far ahead, let’s step back and remember the delivery processes that were available a mere few decades ago.
E-commerce brought delivery efficiency, convenience and speed to the forefront of innovation. But, back in the ’90s there was a lack of transit visibility and inconsistent delivery time, spanning around 4-8 weeks. And consumers were okay with that because that was the norm. Fast forward to today and we’re no longer waiting 4-8 weeks. We’re presented with convenient A-B options at e-checkouts such as same-day or next day delivery. Nowadays, we expect these options, which makes it easier to wrap our heads around the innovations that have yet to happen. Who knows? In 20 years, next-day delivery could be an outdated timeframe. Only time and technology will tell.
In this report, we discuss the following questions:
- What’s shaping the changes to consumer expectations?
- How are businesses are keeping up?
- What’s still to come in the future of delivery?
