Door to door package theft has been a growing problem ever since home delivery has been in existence. I’m sure you’ve seen a Youtube video or two of a home surveillance camera catching a thief in the act. Most people aren’t home during the normal delivery business hours which seems to have led to massive door theft. The solution up until this point has been for delivery drivers to leave the package at the door.

Alternative Delivery Solutions

Many courier companies and startups have tried to solve this issue.  There once was a new startup on Shark Tank that tried to solve this problem by placing a secure box outside the recipients home and drivers would then be charged with the task to leave the package within the secure box.  While this is a creative idea, convincing millions of home owners to buy a box is quite a feat to overcome.

Amazon’s Delivery Solutions

Amazon aims to resolve this problem by offering in-home deliveries. The program is called Amazon Key and is available only to Amazon Prime members. It’s important to note that in order to enroll in this program, you will need to purchase a kit for $250 which includes a surveillance camera and a key.  The surveillance camera will be triggered and will notify the home owner when the delivery driver arrives to your door with the package.  The customer can then watch the delivery driver drop off the package.  The delivery driver will use the key provided by Amazon to enter the customers residence.

What’s Next For Home Delivery and Delivery Software

For years Amazon has led the way in home deliveries and it will be exciting to see what they come up with next.  Perhaps a flying drone or driver-less car is in the works.

Automation is a key component to quicker and more efficient delivery transactions.  Amazon may have solved the issue of door theft and improved key factors on the frontend of the transaction, but have they solved the problem of automation and route optimization which are backend problems?  After all, a human will need to deliver the package to the door which drives up the delivery cost because the humans’ wages need to be accounted for.

Sophisticated delivery software can help improve communication between the customer and the driver and can increase the route optimization for dispatch and the driver.  Zippykind has created a delivery management software that offers dispatch operators total oversight over their fleet of drivers and offers drivers advanced route optimization tools so that each driver can get to where they need to go quickly and can update customers and dispatch throughout the delivery process.  If you operate a delivery business and are wondering how you can keep up with titans like Amazon, then consider Zippykind as your delivery management software.

• On-Demand Delivery
• Route Delivery

On-Demand Delivery

Let’s say your delivery company deliveries ice cream and you have 4 delivery trucks driving around in the field waiting for their next delivery destination from dispatch.  Additionally, let’s say your dispatch operator just received a phone call and an order was placed so your dispatch operator sends the delivery details to the delivery driver through Zippykind’s Manual Dispatch form.  This is an example of an on-demand delivery scenario and is very common for on-hand products that don’t need to be tailored toward the end consumer.

Route Delivery

Alternatively, let’s say your company receives 20 orders and each order has an assortment of products that need to be delivered to the end consumer.  Or let’s say, you own a water delivery company and your customers are setup on recurring delivery, these are common scenarios of a route delivery business modal.  If your company has customers who need items/products delivered on a recurring basis, you should really check out our Recurring Subscriptions feature which lets you easily setup recurring deliveries very easily.  If your company needs route planning tools to help your dispatch operators find the shortest route for your delivery drivers, please watch the video below.  You will see how easy it is to create new routes by simply clicking on the markers on the map.  Your delivery drivers can also find the best route by using our route optimization feature within the drivers application.

Zippykind’s Delivery Software Route Planner