Bringg CEO Guy Bloch was among the industry leaders in attendance. After a packed few days of meetings with senior executives and speaker sessions, Bloch shared his biggest takeaways. His insights are also supported by other thought executives who spoke at the event.

Ultimately, Bloch’s reflections offer retailers a quick-but-potent prescription on what they should be thinking about this year to see last-mile success.

Key takeaway: “Better together”

• Businesses will form strategic partnerships and concentrate on their core strengths to create an interconnected ecosystem that improves last-mile fulfillment and customer experience.

The most popular topics at NRF 2025

Between the more than 175 speaker sessions and countless peer-to-peer conversations, a huge variety of important last-mile topics were discussed at NRF. Bloch outlined the three topics he found most vital across his time at the event.

Topic 1: Partnerships and ecosystem collaboration

“A recurring theme was the shift toward a ‘better together’ mindset,” said Bloch. “Companies are increasingly focusing on their core strengths and building partnerships to fill gaps in areas where they lack expertise—whether in last-mile delivery, fulfillment, customer experience, and more. This collaborative approach is driving a more interconnected ecosystem, where technology providers, retailers, and logistics partners work together to deliver value.”

“The retail ecosystem thrives when it works together.”

Topic 2: The return to core competencies

“After two years of internal adjustments—including reorganizations, revived teams, and recalibrated strategies—companies are returning to their core competencies while innovating to propel the digital transformation of retail,” said Bloch. “The emphasis is on creating sustainable, scalable solutions that drive operational efficiency and customer loyalty.”

Topic 3: AI and automation in last-mile delivery

“Retailers and technology providers are doubling down on AI-driven innovations to optimize the last-mile delivery experiences,” said Bloch. “This includes smarter routing, predictive demand planning, and enhanced delivery orchestration to meet customer expectations for speed and reliability.”

Levi Strauss & Co. was represented at the event by Chief Digital Officer Jason Gowans, who spoke on a panel with executives from Ralph Lauren and Starbucks. Gowans shared details of how Levi’s is using AI in a new platform called BackPocket, which gives in-store associates a 360-degree view of the shopper across all channels. The AI-driven solution helps associates quickly personalize the customer experience all the way down to determining the most convenient delivery method if a particular product isn’t in the store.

AI investments are also happening faster than ever in retail according to Joe Austin, VP of solutions architecture at Comcast Business.

“When decision-makers make a decision, they’re ready to move,” Austin commented during the conference. “Before in retail, we would see a decision-maker want to implement a new technology, and they were okay with a 12- to 18-month rollout, especially major nationwide, large retailers. Now when those CIOs are making that decision and they want to bring in the latest AI technology, they want it implemented tomorrow, and they’re ready to invest and they’re ready to grow.”

The biggest learning: Collaboration will be key

The last two years have been about adapting to the new economy. But Bloch said the learning from NRF 2025 is clear: “The industry is now pivoting to growth through collaboration and targeted innovation.”

“Companies are more willing to share components of the value chain where they lack strengths, ensuring better outcomes for everyone,” Bloch continued. “This collaborative mindset—paired with an accelerated focus on the last mile—shows that the retail ecosystem thrives when it works together.”

Ellen Svanström, chief digital information officer with H&M, echoed the need for partnerships during a panel discussion with leaders from Qurate Retail Group and Tapestry. She said partnerships and industry collaboration will be vital to keep up with the rapid pace of technological and customer changes.

“No single player can succeed alone in this rapidly evolving market.”

The universal appreciation for partnerships this year

When asked what takeaway from the event he found most surprising, Bloch  doubled-down on the excitement around “the universal acknowledgment that no single player can succeed alone in this rapidly evolving market.”

He said, “Even the largest retailers are embracing partnerships, combining their strengths with technology providers and delivery networks to build hybrid, scalable solutions. This openness to collaboration signals a profound shift in the market and highlights how the last mile is becoming a shared strategic priority across the ecosystem.”

More retail collaboration means there will be more opportunities to guarantee customer satisfaction in the last mile. By working together, retailers will ensure that products are delivered on time and in excellent condition, leading to a positive customer experience. This increased satisfaction not only fosters loyalty among existing customers but also incentivizes them to become repeat buyers, generating greater revenue and long-term success for retailers.

A collaborative approach among retailers will also optimize delivery routes, reduce shipping costs, and diversify delivery options like same-day or scheduled delivery. By sharing resources and expertise, retailers can create a more efficient and sustainable last-mile delivery network that benefits both businesses and consumers.

Read Bringg’s State of the Last Mile report to access even more 2025 delivery insights

The post Retail’s New Mantra: The Future Is “Better together”—Insights from NRF 2025 appeared first on Bringg.

Because of its complexity, the last mile is a key proving ground for revenue, logistic efficiency, and customer loyalty. Last mile operations highlight whether retailers and LSPs invested in the right technology to balance their supply chain and cost challenges with customer satisfaction strategies (which are often at odds).

Bringg uncovered details of how well retailers and LSPs are performing in the last mile. The State of the Last Mile: Challenges, Insights, and Implications surfaces survey results from 500 director-level professionals in the U.S. and U.K. The leaders shared the last-mile challenges, wins, and investments they experienced in 2024 as well as what their strategies are for 2025.

The key findings were clear: Continuous last-mile improvement isn’t a differentiator, it’s an imperative.

1. The last-mile directly impacts cart conversion, customer loyalty, and customer lifetime value.
2. Despite being the hardest last mile element, 82% of enterprise retailers plan to invest in more 3PLs.
3. Retailers are investing in solutions like last-mile orchestration, AI automation, same-day delivery to stay competitive and cost effective in 2025.

The full report has over 20 pages of statistics and insights. Some of the biggest findings are summarized below but be sure to explore the full report to see much more.

The last mile impacts customer loyalty

Last-mile deliveries are a crucial step in the supply chain because of how closely they’re tied to the overall shopping experience: 65% of consumers will abandon a retailer after two to three late deliveries. Unfulfilled delivery promises and missed expectations quickly erode customer trust and lead to lost sales.

Survey respondents agreed. In fact, 75% stated that the delivery experience directly impacts:

• Cart conversion
• Customer loyalty
• Lifetime value

This was also demonstrated through online cart abandonment. Three of the biggest causes for failed checkouts are delivery-related:

1. Delivery costs are too expensive
2. Checkout process is too long or complicated
3. Lack of delivery options

Retailers also said the number one reason they lost customers was because their competitors offered more delivery options.

The costs and benefits of 3PLs

Working with 3PLs unlocks greater operational efficiency for many businesses but the wins come at a cost.

The number one last-mile challenge across respondents was “working with multiple carriers.” Why? There’s less control and it’s difficult to “maintain consistent customer experiences” across multiple operators.

And yet, two-thirds of retailers use 3PLs for more than 50% of all their deliveries. More specifically, 82% of enterprise retailers said their 3PL investments will either stay the same or increase in 2025. There’s good reason for the increased investment: 48% of businesses said 3PLs improve their delivery times.

The reality is that 3PLs are a necessary investment for business scalability. Retailers use 3PLs to regionalize fleets for faster delivery times because it’s more cost-effective than investing in their own fleets.

ACCESS BRINGG’S 2025 STATE OF THE LAST MILE REPORT

The biggest last-mile investments

Consumer preferences, business demands, and last mile technology continues to evolve. Businesses that want to stay competitive should grow alongside those elements—well-planned technology investments are fundamental to this evolution. However, there are often significant last-mile investment barriers to overcome for many companies:

• 40% said business requirements are hard to define
• 35% said measuring ROI is difficult
• 35% said costs are too high

New last-mile tech investments are most impactful when they’re shaped around well-defined business needs. Without a clear roadmap, new solutions add complexity rather than streamline operations.

The companies that did adopt new technology in 2024 invested most in:

• Last-mile orchestration and management tools
• Digitization tools to automate operations
• AI technology to personalize the customer experience

Major eCommerce players like Amazon and Walmart set customer expectations for more efficient and flexible delivery options—and those expectations aren’t likely to change anytime soon. So retailers are continually investing in new or expanding last-mile capabilities in 2025. For example:

• 60% will invest in same-day delivery
• 31% will invest in express delivery
• 21% will invest in curbside pickup

Effective digitization and last-mile delivery investments can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

However, in order to achieve wins at the customer’s door, leaders have to ask themselves:

• How fragmented are current last-mile operations?
• What real-time insights are missing from existing visibility tools?
• How can AI and ML improve both efficiency and personalization?
• How should short-term ROI and long-term scalability be balanced?

Businesses manage a great deal during the last mile. The leaders who continue to invest in the last-mile strategies that meet the needs of their business and their customers will be the winners across this make-or-break delivery stage.

Explore the full “State of the Last Mile” report

The insights collected here are only about 50% of what’s present in Bringg’s full State of the Last Mile report. Access the full report to learn:

• The top reasons retailers lose customers
• The percent of big and bulky, grocery, and apparel retailers increasing or maintaining 3PL investments
• How to balance 3PLs investment while maintaining brand experience and efficiency
• The full list of last-mile technology investments focused on operational efficiency
• Additional metrics around the biggest barriers to technology adoption

ACCESS BRINGG’S 2025 STATE OF THE LAST MILE REPORT

The post The State of the Last Mile Summary: Key Insights from 500 Retail and Logistics Leaders appeared first on Bringg.

This piece serves two purposes. First, it summarizes some of the biggest insights from Gartner’s report—outlining shopper expectations as well as business last-mile priorities in 2025 and beyond. Second, the article surfaces Bringg‘s analysis of the Market Guide’s reporting—giving shippers details on what the data means, why these insights are important, and how they can take advantage of the information.

Key Takeaways:

• “Organizations consider last-mile speed and reliability as most important, but need the least improvement”
• Businesses ranked their top three improvement priorities across the supply chain as: business innovation, productivity, customer service
• When weighing a new last-mile investment, “Define your business strategy, planning, and timeline to ensure that vendors can grow with changing business needs, including those related to functional and geographic coverage,” wrote Gartner
• A holistic last-mile approach requires integrating customer priorities with core business objectives

Defining last-mile delivery and its capabilities

Gartner defines last-mile delivery technology based on three key principles.

• “Last-mile delivery (LMD) technology solutions are specialized, customer-centric transportation management solutions that focus on managing the delivery process by which a consumer receives the products they order online.”
• “LMD supports internal and external fleets, providing access to carrier networks for non-asset-based shippers. They also provide customer-engagement capabilities, providing a digitized experience to a shipper’s customer that allows end consumers to route, book, track and communicate changes to their shipments through a digital channel.”
• “LMD solutions focus on the orchestration of the delivery of products, considering more than just different fleet options, such as owned fleet versus outsourced fleets. They also focus on providing enhanced customer experience capabilities to the recipient of the goods.”

There are also a wide range of capabilities mentioned in the report that last-mile solutions offer retailers and shippers in this vital delivery stage:

• “Internal fleet versus external fleet selection based optimal outcomes”
• “Route optimization for companies using their own fleets”
• “Access to external carrier networks through APIs”
• “Customer web portal branding capabilities”
• “Visibility and live order tracking”

Where businesses need to do better for customers

It’s no secret that many shoppers want their shipping experiences to rival Amazon’s. However, most companies don’t have inventory spread across hundreds of warehouses and tens of thousands of employees to sort, pick, and ship stock. They also lack the technology infrastructure to mirror the delivery giant’s quick and transparent operations.

Gartner asked logistics operators to outline the investments they needed to make to keep up with customer demand: “According to the 2023 Gartner Last-Mile Operations and Customer Expectations Survey, speed (90%) and reliability (85%) are by far the aspects of last-mile operations that organizations considered as most important.

“However, the same study also showed that, when it comes to meeting customer expectations, organizations need the most improvement in areas such as flexibility, supplier diversity, visibility and sustainability.”

It also reported, “LMD vendors are increasingly putting more development efforts in extending their carrier library and connectivity options, providing more flexibility and service options to shippers.”

Retail and logistics industries made great strides in speed and reliability to keep up with consumer expectations set by companies like Amazon and Walmart.

However, what’s the cost of these efforts? For example, pushing for more speed and reliability may reduce carrier or delivery window options.

According to Gartner, “LMD vendors are increasingly putting more development efforts in extending their carrier library and connectivity options.”

Bringg’s analysis: Three of the four improvement areas—greater flexibility, supplier variability, and visibility for their teams and customers—fall under the umbrella of operational efficiency. It’s clear that as consumer expectations continue to increase, shippers have to improve these core capabilities.

They should address these challenges not only for their customers but for their businesses overall. The retailers and shippers that don’t meet these operational demands could experience higher costs and/or lower productivity than they would if they made a few savvy last-mile investments to improve performance.

How experimentation meets major business priorities

Gartner’s survey respondents pointed to three primary areas of business-level improvement: business innovation, greater productivity, and improving the customer experience.

Gartner also outlined specific tactics retailers and shippers use to stay competitive among those top three priorities:

• Smaller parcel shipments: Improve packaging utilization and parsing orders to take advantage of lower shipping rates
• The expansion of micro-fulfillment: Regionalize specific inventory to shorten delivery times and costs
• Measuring customer satisfaction: Use analytics to pull insights from reviews, returns, and other customer data
• New fulfillment methods: Invest in “green delivery,” pickup in store, and locker pickup

Bringg’s analysis: Any of the above tactics, and many not listed, could be considered “business innovations” or experimentations if a company doesn’t already employ them. When successful, these innovations lead to greater productivity for the business and customer experiences that consumers want. We believe the first business priorities Gartner uncovered can optimize the second two.

Everything is connected.

All this means that many companies will test new strategies with last-mile technologies in 2025 and beyond. The savviest retailers and shippers will satisfy business and customer needs with a few great infrastructure innovations (or maybe even one).

Reciprocal relationships across the last-mile

Bringg’s analysis: Retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs) across the last-mile landscape shouldn’t separate customer priorities from business priorities. Again, everything is connected.

“These are not standalone goals—they are deeply interconnected,” said Bringg CEO Guy Bloch. “True innovation drives efficiency while enhancing customer satisfaction. It’s not always about massive transformations; sometimes, the most meaningful progress comes from pragmatic, impactful changes that elevate operations and experiences simultaneously.”

The changing last-mile priorities for both consumers and businesses also impact the features that last-mile technology providers build.

“The expansion of micro fulfillment is having an impact on LMD vendors’ roadmaps, as more vendors are starting to include inventory visibility and management capabilities in their solutions to help optimize routing and carrier/fleet selection decisions,” Gartner wrote.

The savviest retailers and shippers will satisfy business and customer needs with a few great infrastructure innovations (or maybe even one).

This cooperation is rooted in consumer calls for greater sustainability.

“Sustainability demands are increasing from consumers and brands, impacting the roadmap of LMD vendors,” wrote Gartner. “The selection of carriers and other capabilities embedded in the delivery orchestration engine allows shippers to establish new service models based on sustainable delivery options.”

Important strategies to prepare for 2025 and beyond

There are myriad factors to weigh when considering new last-mile technology investments. Several of the key recommendations by Gartner provide a framework for retailers in search of new solutions and partners.

• “Define your business strategy, planning and timeline to ensure that vendors can grow with changing business needs, including those related to functional and geographic coverage.”
• Specify the functional areas to include, such as: delivery orchestration, fleet optimization, customer experience, post-purchase delivery capabilities, advanced analytics, and warehouse management.
• “Start with vendors that address your industry and geography. This will increase the possibility of a good functional match, adherence to local requirements and a network of logistics providers that are in your supply chain network.”
• “Determine company preference for SaaS and cloud versus an on-premises solution because many vendors have only one or the other…involve IT in these discussions.”
• “Evaluate the vendor’s ability to provide integration to other applications, such as ERP, DOM, TMS or WMS solutions.”
• “Assess the capacity of the vendor to offer consulting and implementation services that go beyond the software capabilities of the product.”

Bringg’s Analysis: The last mile is the most critical part of the supply chain now. This report shows that retailers and LSPs need effective last-mile solutions to keep up with consumer expectations. Older, home-grown solutions won’t work because they aren’t built for today’s environment. Luckily, last-mile technology is evolving just as quickly as consumer expectations and business priorities across the supply chain. And more retailers and logistics service providers are adopting last-mile technology to keep up with all the changes.

Designing a solution that addresses all the variables discussed here will be instrumental for retailers and shippers as last mile evolutions continue across 2025. The businesses that first connect their customer priorities with their business goals will have the clearest vision to outline the specific tech they need. From there, these companies can experiment with their new capabilities and refine them until they’ve got a winning strategy.

So who has the best chance to succeed this year? Businesses that invest in solutions that simultaneously address great customer experiences, operational efficiencies and cost reductions. Missing the mark in any of these areas could mean losing customers, less productivity or going over budget—all of which can impact market positioning.

With a market that changes so quickly, organizations can’t afford to be the last innovators in the race across the last mile.

Disclaimer: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner, Market Guide for Last-Mile Delivery Technology Solutions, 18 June 2024, Oscar Sanchez Duran, et.al.

GARTNER is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Bringg.

The post Key findings from the Gartner Market Guide for Last-Mile Solutions appeared first on Bringg.

On the physical end, getting that package to its final destination requires drivers and vehicles, which are very much part of the brick and mortar world. From the digital side, last mile delivery solutions employ the latest digital technologies that enable communications with drivers, route optimization, fast delivery and most important – happy customers.

Many buzz words are created to hype nascent trends, but the phygital experience describes our dystopian existence in both the physical and digital realms. On the one hand, we enter the digital world every day through any one of the computing and entertainment devices we use on a daily basis. On the other hand, we are still active in the physical world living in our homes, exercising, shopping, commuting, traveling and socializing – even though all of these have come to have a digital component as well.

As much as we have become accustomed to digital experiences, especially under lockdown during the recent pandemic, human beings still crave tactile interaction at good old brick-and-mortar stores. As we see, even a physical store can now be termed part of a phygital strategy when it is equipped with digital technology that blends the online and offline worlds.

What is the phygital experience?

The phygital experience is a combination of the physical and digital worlds, bridging the gap between the e-commerce experience and shopping at physical stores. Rather than viewing this as an Orwellian futuristic vision, we need to realize that we are already leading a phygital lifestyle. 

Phygital origins

It’s challenging to pinpoint exactly when brick-and-mortar business went phygital, but the groundwork was probably laid out in the 90s with the explosion of the Internet with information, e-commerce and social networking. Even with this momentous development, the customer experience was still disparate in the online and offline worlds, consisting of either shopping in a digital environment or going to a physical store – with little connection between them. 

Phygital accelerators

The next major development was the rise of the mobile phone. Now all of a sudden when a person enters a brick-and-mortar business, or one of many retail stores, they are bringing their own digital environments into a specific physical space. This is probably when marketing strategy started taking into account that the customer journey could be improved significantly using digital tools to enhance consumers’ combined physical and digital experience.

At this stage, phygital applications started becoming part of the customer experience and digital strategy, resulting in phygital marketing campaigns that use online campaigns for physical events, and digital technology in physical stores for bringing the physical and digital world together.

When physical and digital worlds collide

In the popular comedy series Seinfield, one of the main characters George Castanza, complains when his intimate life with his girlfriend suddenly comes into conflict with his social life and his goofy friends, which he bitterly refers to as worlds collide. When the physical and digital worlds come together, terminal pessimists like George may see it as a collision, but many leading companies are developing a phygital strategy to adapt themselves and take advantage of this emerging customer journey.

The integration of physical and digital is already happening whether we realize it or not. It can be in the form of a QR code on a poster advertising a concert or augmented reality on a candy bar wrapper that is bringing the online and offline worlds together.

Until now, most people viewed physical and digital experiences as having very little crossover. Today’s customers, however, would find this confusing as they seek a seamless experience throughout the entire customer journey. The eventual winners in the phygital space will be those who appreciate that the customer does not differentiate between physical and digital environments and must be allowed to move seamlessly across both worlds. 

The physical world

We are all familiar with the physical experience of commuting to the office, shopping in a store or flying to our favorite travel destination. When it comes to retail stores, for example, even though sales in physical stores are declining and e-commerce is growing, there are still aspects of physical stores that consumers find reassuring and encourage them to keep shopping. They still enjoy physical store interaction, being able to see and touch products and seek advice from product experts. 

Consumer psychology is central to marketing in the physical, as well as digital and phygital worlds. For example, it is known that consumers prefer to select products on the right, which is what makes right-side shelf space so valuable in retail stores. The same is true for buttons on a web page in digital environments and digital kiosks at fast food restaurants in the phygital world.

Paradoxically, consumers frequently combine brick-and-mortar shopping with digital shopping in two opposite ways: 

• Reading product reviews online for making well-informed in-store purchases
• Seeing and touching a product in the store and then placing the order online

Today, customers must have their needs met across multiple channels in an integrated manner. In a digital era, an omni-channel experience is something expected by default, and consumers won’t agree to be limited to a single channel in their shopping journey. 

Consumers should be able to access any service channel, whether physical or digital. This option makes the customer experience more agile and effective. In this sense, offering services via multiple channels, including brick-and-mortar physical stores, needs to be part of every brand’s retail marketing strategy. 

The digital world

If the digital world refers to all our interactions with smartphones, smart homes, smart TVs, smart speakers, laptops and tablets, then we can safely say that the digital experience has become part and parcel of our everyday lives.

From a brand perspective, this experience would suggest that most customer interactions these days are initiated, and sometimes completed, through a mobile phone, computer or other connected devices. 

The main need that digital answers is the craving for what you want, when you want it. Consumers operate in a world where instant gratification and immediate service have become standard expectations. According to Salesforce.com 45% of customers are ready to switch brands if they don’t anticipate their present and future needs.

As customers are becoming more demanding, digital technology is providing building blocks to help meet their demands including:

Always-on connectivity

Going digital means that the user is now directly connected to the brand and expects 24×7 availability. To nurture the relationship, all interactions should feel like a two-way conversation. Customers need to be connected and feel like brands are empathizing with their needs.

Reliable next day delivery

As mentioned, there is clearly a major physical component to package delivery, but it is digital technologies that created the demand, and are meeting the challenge of physical delivery of goods purchased online. Ecommerce and the expectation of next day delivery are driving online retailers to find solutions that include, not only international shipping, but the critical last mile of home delivery that is so important for a successful customer journey.

Secure financial transactions

At the height of the pandemic, people started buying more of their groceries, home goods, and apparel online. The digital economy is driven by consumer confidence in the security and privacy of their transactions. Likewise, in the banking sector, almost 40% of baby boomers say they are using a mobile banking app rather than visiting their brick-and-mortar branch. 

New modes of interaction

In Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, 2001 A Space Odyssey, there is an amazing scene where Dave the astronaut has a conversation with HAL, the computer that seals his fate and seemed so futuristic at the time. Fast forward to the 2020s and Amazon’s Alexa cloud-based voice service has made it into, 1 out of every 4 American homes. Providing the opportunity for people to adopt new modes of interaction is an important part of the digital world.

Self service portals

With the endless amounts of online websites to shop from, consumers get to be fully independent by interfacing with a screen rather than a human being.

The physical-digital / phygital world

As we have demonstrated, the integration of the physical and digital worlds –  now termed the phygital world –  is all around us. The question then becomes how can a brand embrace this phygital phenomenon and turn it into a world-class customer experience. Doing that starts with a phygital strategy.

Phygital unites the physical and digital realms. The objective is to bring the best parts of both worlds into the customer experience. This is probably true for most baby boomers, and it has an even stronger appeal amongst the always-on always-connected Millennial and Generation Z consumers.

Successful phygital deployments must use an omnichannel approach integrating customers across all channels with the single objective of keeping prospective customers engaged.

What is a phygital strategy?

A phygital strategy must be based on the current customer experience. It is important to assess the pros and cons of both the digital experience, as well as the brick-and-mortar in-store experience. The goal is to take the best of both worlds and mold them into a single cohesive strategy. 

Phygital takes the best from the digital and physical shopping journey to deliver a unified experience for consumers, alongside new growth engines for retailers. 

Putting in place the right phygital marketing plan can be a lifeline to save struggling brick-and-mortar stores, while increasing overall online and offline revenues.

What is a phygital reality?

One might say we are actually living in a phygital reality and as we use our mobile phone to order tickets to the game or the show, we might have to agree.

From a brand perspective, there are many ways to enhance and better coordinate the phygital touch points customers are already experiencing. If until now, the physical store and online marketing plans were disparate entities, today they must have a common thread based on a combined physical – digital customer journey. 

Let’s have a look at some real-life phygital examples and how they are enhancing the customer experience:

Last mile delivery

If anything represents the best of phygital developments, it has to be last mile delivery, where digital technology enables the movement of goods based on the communications and logistics provided by digital technology. 

Since the spread of COVID-19, there has been rapid acceleration in ecommerce and last mile delivery. Online retailers were well aware of this trend, but still had to work fast and furiously during the pandemic to rapidly scale their last mile delivery capabilities, including adoption of smart logistics platforms for better management and optimization.

In-store kiosks

Starting as a brick-and-mortar business, retail outlets from food to apparel have been losing market share to online businesses; or those who were better at utilizing digital tools to create a satisfying phygital customer experience. This might include checking out prices online to make an in-store purchase or placing a self-service kiosk inside a retail store. 

A great example of this is Mcdonald’s, which according to Forbes, will be deploying self-serve kiosks to replace servers at all US locations. Other chains, including fast-casual brands like Panera and casual-dining brands like Chili’s, are also embracing this trend.

Brands have realized that their online presence and physical store presence should be connected not only by colors and logos, but also through successful phygital campaigns. 

Continuity cannot be lost when a potential customer goes to your store after having an engaging experience on your website. As a matter of fact, a whopping 63% of all in-store purchases start online. So it is super important for retailers to make that connection between their online presence and in-store presence, being able to identify that person who just visited their website and has now come to the store to make that purchase.

Imagine entering a restaurant, and then leaving to a different store, where you are welcomed and receive shopping recommendations that match your personality. This kind of engagement streamlines the kiosk experience, making it super customer-centric, while enabling the best possible customer experience and increasing brand loyalty.

Mobility apps

Whether it’s delivering packages to their final destination or getting a ride to the airport, mobility apps have simplified the process of getting people and goods from here to there. It is another great example of a phygital application, where digital technologies are used for enabling communications between drivers and their customers, and optimizing pick-up routes for the sake of physically bringing people and goods to their destination.

Here too, COVID-19 accounted for the explosive growth in curbside pickup, which combines ordering by an app on your phone while picking up the goods at the store. This is also commonly known as BOPIS meaning Buy Online Pickup In-Store.

QR codes

Take, for example, the introduction of QR codes at restaurants, where instead of a printed menu, the customer scans a QR code on the table to view and order their favorite food and drinks. These technologies continue to proliferate even after social distancing subsides, thanks to the convenience and safety that it offers. Likewise, QR codes are also being used on promotional materials such as posters for an upcoming concert, where scanning the QR code plays a video of the band’s latest hits.

Smart hangers

C&A is a large retailer in Brazil, where they worked with DDB Brasil to address the challenge that most shoppers face of insecurity at the point of sale.

Using a phygital approach, they ran Facebook campaigns encouraging users to like the latest fashions in their collection. The results were communicated to digital hangers, which displayed the number of likes for a particular item of clothing in real-time. 

The campaign was wildly successful, resulting in:

• 1000 new fans per hour 
• In-store sales of the entire collection in a single day
• Over 1700 references on blogs and websites 

These are only a few of the phygital applications that we experience on a regular basis. As consumers take advantage of the latest digital technologies and brands take more of a holistic approach to the phygital customer journey, we can look forward to more new and innovative combined digital and physical brand-to-customer experiences. 

Conclusion

Regardless of which channel is used to make the purchase, the main objectives of a phygital integrated marketing campaign should be:

• Promote customer engagement
• Deepen the customer-brand relationship
• Identify upsell opportunities
• Generate new leads
• Increase peer-to-peer recommendations

Achieving these objectives requires campaigns that catch the audience’s attention and increase ROI for phygital marketing activities.

One of the key trends in the coming years is the demand for unforgettable experiences. Experience marketing wants to engage consumers in surprising places leveraging combined physical and digital channels. 

Consumers no longer simply buy products, they are looking for sensational, unforgettable experiences. Brands that understand this trend and can deliver superior integrated phygital experiences for their customers will thrive and stand out from their competitors.

Your buyers expect a seamless customer experience using faster, more convenient delivery and fulfillment methods than ever before. It is imperative to meet this growing demand and heightened customer expectations by rapidly scaling up delivery and fulfillment operations. 

Bringg’s delivery management platform contributes to the greater phygital experience. Using the latest digital technologies we are able to optimize last mile delivery, delighting retailers and their customers. We make delivery and fulfillment accessible to all. Find out more about our phygital last-mile delivery solutions by contacting us at your convenience.

The post Phygital Experience is Shaping our World appeared first on Bringg.

To get this right, you need to tap into next-gen delivery and fulfillment tech to build your own personalized network of the right third party providers to match your unique order requirements.  And that’s not where it ends. It’s imperative to also remain in full control of your delivery operations and branded customer experiences. 

To deliver more and maintain control of the customer relationship, companies are turning to flexible, integrated delivery networks, with smart delivery provider management functionality. 

This post explores the different challenges of working with multiple third party delivery providers, and how businesses can use Bringg’s Delivery Hub and last mile fulfillment platform to quickly and flexibly integrate with, manage, and optimize each delivery provider for branded customer experiences and a higher bottom line.

WATCH : Bringg’s delivery hub in action

5 reasons to use a delivery hub with next-gen management functionality to manage multiple third-party delivery providers

1. Select and work with the right providers and services to support your unique order requirements. This means that you are also offering your consumers different delivery options, which is proven to increase cart value and customer life-time value.
2. Optimize  your delivery operations to support your complex fulfillment needs. You can easily evaluate your delivery provider performance based on your unique business needs and parameters, such as  cost, quality and availability.
3. Synchronize inventory/pick and pack, staging and delivery operations.
4. Offer a consistently branded customer delivery experience.
5. No need to build and maintain integrations yourself.

When is third party delivery not enough?

Retailers and logistics providers need to be  able to quickly and easily scale deliveries while remaining in full control of their delivery operations and branded customer experiences.  And that requires advanced and specialized delivery and fulfillment tech.

If you’re already using third party delivery providers, you’ve likely stumbled on these issues that need tackling:

Brand awareness and customer relationship

When a third party provider knocks on a customer’s door, who does the customer attribute the delivery experience to – your brand, or the provider’s brand? When customers aren’t satisfied with the quality of the goods when delivered, or when a package arrives late, who do they blame? 

You should offer a clear channel of communication – and not through the third party. You cannot outsource your customer relationships and interactions.

You also want to deliver with the delivery partner that provides the best fulfillment experience. However, most companies struggle to gain real-time visibility over third party delivery providers to understand their performance and ensure the customer experience meets their brand’s expectations. 

To improve risk management, you need real-time visibility. This will enable you to catch when something goes wrong with an order, so you can proactively reach out to the customer and minimize the negative impact on your relationship. 

Managing integrations

Relying solely on third party marketplaces is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they are a significant growth engine, allowing for fast delivery activation and room for future expansion, with minimal operational investment.

On the other hand, this reliance comes at the cost of customer data and ownership, revenue lost through commissions paid to marketplaces, and loss of cross-sell/upsell opportunities.

If you’re planning on your own digital channels, you’ll need not only third party delivery providers, but all of the operations built around connecting your eCommerce, POS and other systems to fleet operations: ensuring that the correct packages are dispatched to the right fleet, and delivered to the correct person and location. 

Building and maintaining these integrations takes resources that many brands don’t have, or would rather not use up.

Fleet Optimization

Choosing the ‘optimal’ delivery provider can mean different things not only for each business, but for different orders, package sizes, or fulfillment within the same business. 

For on-demand orders, you may want to dispatch orders based on availability first, and price second.

A company using both internal and external fleets may want to look at their internal capacity for deliveries before deciding whether to dispatch to an external delivery provider.

Local neighborhood deliveries can prioritize dispatch to a green logistics option, such as a fleet with electric cargo bikes, cars or trucks – and define specific partner fleets per neighborhood. 

In order to address these issues, businesses will need more than just a delivery app.

The value of a smart, integrated third party delivery hub

The Bringg Delivery Hub is an aggregation of third party delivery providers which companies can use to form their own delivery network and dispatch deliveries based on their own custom business logic and operational considerations.

This rapid access to leading providers allows brands to expand their last mile delivery operations quickly. More than that, the Hub is a centralized tool for seamlessly and flexibly deploying, scaling, managing, and optimizing multiple fleets to address diverse business needs, while retaining a consistently excellent customer experience.

Our platform can integrate with any provider, equipping you with in-depth data exchange needed for true visibility and orchestration. This helps you effectively utilize external delivery providers as if they were internal resources, either exclusively or in combination with an internal provider.

How the delivery hub works: centralized management, flexible flows

Integrating with a delivery provider

 A business can search for and select a third party delivery partner in Bringg’s Delivery Hub of integrated providers. This levels the technological playing field by offering brands a unified customer experience with all of the different providers they use.

Companies can alternatively bring their own external fleets and have them integrate with Bringg’s Delivery Hub.

You can contract with your providers directly (on your terms), or have Bringg fully manage it for you. You can also manage provider payments and disputes with our billing services. 

Setting up business logic behind provider selection

Companies can choose which delivery providers they want to utilize per use case, city, neighborhood, region, day of week, or other criteria. Then, they set up the operational logic behind Bringg’s fleet routing engine, based on their business logic. This is a great way to ensure excellent customer experiences; for example, orders can be dispatched to providers with the best feedback ratings, or the fastest average delivery times.

A retailer may utilize the lowest cost providers for same day or on demand delivery, but utilize the highest rated white glove delivery provider for transportation and installation of appliances.

Once the business logic is set up, all fleets integrated with Bringg – whether from our Delivery Hub or not – can be dispatched using different flows with customized levels of automation. Bringg’s Fleet Router takes multiple constraints into consideration – including cost, distance, speed, and your unique business needs – to automatically dispatch orders between the right providers.

Syncing operations across the delivery flow

When your entire logistics chain, from your retail systems (e.g. POS, picking, order prep), to your inventory management system (IMS), warehouses, and drivers are all linked to the same system, it’s easy to ensure a fast, seamless handoff and consistent customer experiences.

Offering a consistent, branded customer experience

Working with an integrated delivery network means that your customers will experience your brand at every delivery touchpoint, from checkout right through to receiving their deliveries.

Centralizing visibility and technology

The delivery providers in Bringg’s hub provide real-time data to Bringg that captures progress through order fulfillment, either via API integration or by using the Bringg Driver App. At the same time, Bringg’s platform tracks and measures high-level delivery provider performance KPIs.

Leaders can view order value per region and per fleet, as well as provider performance. These and other metrics can be used to make better choices about where and how you use each external provider. This is true whether you work with fleets from our network, or other fleets of your choice, once they integrate with Bringg.

Building a network to support your future growth

Having a robust network of multiple last mile delivery providers is the first step in expanding your delivery and fulfillment revenue. The next step is to select, manage and optimize the right delivery providers in the optimal way to continue growing and ensure coverage for the future.

The Bringg Third Party Delivery Hub provides you with the functionality to seamlessly connect to the world’s leading delivery providers while maintaining full visibility and control of your delivery operations and customer experience. 

To learn more, you can schedule a demo here.

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