The 2023 Last Mile Holiday Perspective signals a mixed business outlook among supply chain leaders; Threats of extreme weather spark heavy concern; Investments in new tech remain steady
CAMPBELL, Calif., Dec. 6, 2023 -- DispatchTrack, the global leader in last mile delivery solutions, released its annual Last Mile Holiday Perspective today, exploring how logistics professionals are thinking about this year's holiday season and the year ahead, homing in on a variety of environmental factors including rising operational costs and an uncertain economic outlook. The report is based on a survey of 101 logistics professionals completed last month.
According to the data, there was a mixed business outlook this year, with 39% expecting business to be down, 29% expecting business to be better than it was last year, and 17% unsure of which way it would go. Nevertheless, an overwhelming majority (86%) of supply chain professionals expect fuel and other operating costs to increase for another year in a row, and, consistent with last year's findings, 4 in 10 plan to pass those added expenses along to their customers by raising fees.
Among the list of grueling challenges identified, fuel ranked at the top again this year among nearly half of respondents (49%) though down significantly from 82% last year. Losing business due to the economy jumped to 43% this year from 38% last year followed by delays outside of their control, which rose to 40% from 37% in 2022. Threats of extreme weather conditions jumped higher up the list of major concerns to 36% in 2023, up from just 14% last year.
Missing delivery windows was once again a primary concern among those surveyed while inventory shortages and oversupply challenges appear to have eased. To improve operational efficiencies, nearly half of respondents (45%) stated that they have invested in new technology or expanded their existing technologies.
"There's no question supply chain organizations are feeling the squeeze. Not only are they facing immense economic pressure, but they know they have to get the delivery experience right if they want to retain customers. A big part of that is ensuring deliveries are consistently made on time, so I'm not surprised to see missing delivery windows flagged as a major concern," said Satish Natarajan, DispatchTrack co-founder and CEO. "CEOs and boards are becoming more actively involved in planning and delivery strategy and championing new systems and tech investments to not only improve operational cost efficiencies but also preserve and grow customer loyalty which are both critical to the bottom line."
Highlights from the survey include:
Costs & Expectations
Notable Concerns
On This Year's Agenda
The 2023 Last Mile Holiday Perspective can be found here.
Survey Methodology
The online survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey October 12th - November 1st, 2023 among 101 logistics professionals. Industries include furniture and appliances, 3PLs, building supplies, agriculture, auto parts, and food, beverage, and grocery distribution. Employee sizes ranged from 1-10, 11-50, 51-99, and 100+.
About DispatchTrack
DispatchTrack is the global leader in last mile delivery solutions, helping top brands around the globe power successful deliveries 1 million times a day. Since 2010, DispatchTrack's scalable SaaS platform has made delivery organizations more connected, agile, and intelligent using highly configurable capabilities designed to empower better delivery management from end to end. Our proprietary AI-powered routing algorithm ensures 98% ETA accuracy in last mile deliveries, and we're constantly innovating to improve performance and better serve our 2,500+ global customers, including Walmart, Coca-Cola, Ashley, Ferguson Enterprises, Cargill, McCain Foods, and many others. When businesses make promises to their customers—DispatchTrack makes sure they deliver.