Patience may be a virtue, but humans are growing more impatient as readily available on-demand services like Uber, DoorDash, and InstaCart become the norm. Customers love products on-demand, from our entertainment, to our groceries, to our transportation. And while some argue technology is making us more impatient than ever, it’s up to on-demand delivery companies to utilize automation in order to meet those ever-rising standards of speed, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

With on-demand delivery, logistics APIs must consider a variety of factors while matching couriers to assignments instantaneously. Using Mapbox Logistics, on-demand delivery services can control every aspect of their distribution network — ensuring seamless deliveries and satisfying those impatient customers.

The Importance of On-Demand Delivery

The statistics prove the significance of on-demand delivery in the marketplace. No matter the sector, consumers want services that are available right away. According to a Markets and Markets report, the global ride sharing market will grow from $85.8 billion to an estimated $185.1 billion from 2021 to 2026. Digital grocery sales are projected to grow by another 20.5% this year. Fifty-three percent of all adults say purchasing takeout or delivery is essential to the way they live. If businesses can optimize on-demand delivery, they will quickly become the first-choice for consumers.

How Driver-Selection Improves On-Demand Delivery

Last-mile delivery is the trickiest part of any delivery process, and becomes even more difficult when orders arrive on-demand. To out-pace the competition, companies must automate their dispatching by implementing APIs to assign drivers to routes. Effective dispatching enables drivers to deliver to as many stops as they can in a given time frame. As a result, brands save time and money, and customers receive their orders as quickly as possible.

Key Factors In Selecting The Correct Driver

Selecting the best driver for an order is not as simple as choosing the closest one to a particular destination. Insisting on this simple calculation, dispatchers ignore key variables and run into entirely avoidable problems. To optimize driver assignments, logistics technology must take into account multiple variables.

Road and Traffic Conditions

Road conditions are ever-changing, and if an app’s real-time mapping isn’t up-to-date, deliveries will not arrive on time. Let’s say the nearest driver is only 0.5 miles from a job. Unfortunately, after being assigned the route, they realize a bridge is closed. That three-minute drive just turned into a thirty-minute drive. Now, the company has wasted both the driver and the customer’s time, as they must re-assign the order. Additionally, the customer is frustrated and less likely to hire the company again.  A more sophisticated dispatching system would have assigned the order to a driver who was 0.8 miles away, on this side of the bridge.

Delivery Batching

What’s the easiest way to improve efficiency? Batching deliveries. Some companies make the mistake of assigning orders to a driver one at a time, wasting time and resources. Instead, dispatchers must know the capacity of their vehicles so they can execute several orders at once. With delivery batching, it’s vital to sequence PUDO’s (pick-up/drop-offs) to improve efficiency without sacrificing customer satisfaction.

Vehicle Constraints

The perfect route is useless if the vehicle assigned the route is unable to complete the job. When dispatching couriers, it’s vital that drivers aren’t allocated more than a vehicle can carry. Dispatchers shouldn’t assign a driver in a Prius a grand piano delivery, and shouldn’t call upon a driver in a pick-up truck to collect a group of passengers. Combine vehicle information with road condition data to ensure that an off-road-ready vehicle is sent to difficult-to-reach places.

The Right Driver For The Job

Delivery drivers are critical to the success of your delivery business, and there are situations where dispatchers must consider a job based on the credentials of the driver. For example, it would be prudent to select an experienced, top-performing driver for first-time users in order to ensure customer satisfaction, and keep that customer’s business in the future.

How Mapbox Logistics Improves On-Demand Delivery

Mapbox Logistics is the perfect solution for on-demand delivery companies to optimize their delivery process, and ensure delivery agreements can be met. Using the Isochrone API you can quickly understand which areas are reachable within a specified amount of time from a location. The Mapbox Matrix API can efficiently route drivers by comparing travel times between several locations. Meanwhile, the Optimization API identifies the ideal route, sequence, and boundary conditions for any given set of deliveries. These conditions include urgent deliveries, specific drop-off windows, or needing a refrigerated van or truck. By taking all variables into account, deliveries are sure to be smooth.

Customers shouldn’t have to take a company's word promising their order is in good hands. Mapbox tools are used to track orders in real-time and to provide updates to customers seeking information on order status and arrival times. Sixty-six percent of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities in a brand. Providing visibility into the delivery process is key to increasing transparency and earning customer loyalty. 

Gaining A Head Start on the Competition

As the market for on-demand delivery grows, the competition among brands will intensify. Only the fastest, savviest, most reliable services will be able to win customer allegiance, and ensure a place in this market for the future. Every aspect of the delivery process must be optimized to conquer the field, and it starts with optimally dispatching drivers. By using Mapbox’s precise location data and powerful developer tools, companies gain a head start.