Next-Day Delivery? Oh yah!
Leveraging Supply Chain Platforms for D2C Brands
I am a meme-fan and the last week’s Suez Canal crisis unleashed a meme-storm over the internet.
On a serious note, of course, it set back the logistics and production schedules of multiple companies spanning across industries and geographies. It brought to fore the fragility of global supply chains and dependence on transnational shipping corporations to keep the global economic engine running.
For D2C brands, one of the most important components of ecosystem has been logistics and delivery.In this era of inter-connected IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and drone/robotic deliveries , the role of last mile delivery agent has become even more prominent. With disintermediation reigning supreme, the new phygital intermediaries are infomediaries and last mile delivery platforms.
DTW
During the Week, one of India’s new age D2C brand Bewakoof celebrated its 9th birthday on 1st April (You guessed it right). Just in March , they had raised ₹30 crore from IvyCap Ventures and plan to use the newly raised capital for improving technology, creating better consumer interface and introducing newer product categories.
In other distant industrial complex, Apollo LogiSolutions partnered with leading players across technology, cold chain warehousing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, airline and airport sectors for its new ‘integrated vaccine delivery platform’. Reports indicated that the platform may provide vial level visibility on track and trace, chain of custody management and temperature continuity for vital supplies.
And in an insanely connected but thousands of miles away Suez Canal, a combination of human ingenuity and fortunate geophysical events created conditions for cargo ship Ever Given to resume its journey across Suez Canal.
Long story short, logistics and platforms could be understood through three dimensions- Coordination across modes and geography, Crowdsourcing of Assets and Services for logistics.
Coordination across Modes and Geography seems to be greatest value creating activity through platforms. Platforms make it possible to have point to point deliveries in certain geographies and then aggregating them across modes thereby saving cost and time. Many intermediaries platforms have sprung up to facilitate handover at intermediate points and thereby reducing the burden for the manufacturer and logistics partner.
Crowdsourcing of Assets unlocks extraordinary value for both suppliers and buyers. Retail Operations especially for the D2C brands have been extraordinarily helped by last mile delivery partners like ShadowFax. Some of them also provide warehousing, payment collection and reverse logistics.
Multiple Services provided through related and unrelated infomediaries and social media have been critical in providing great visibility into logistics in a real time basis. For example, multiple start ups are looking to solve driver related problems thereby improving working conditions leading to more reliable delivery system. TuSimple, a Chinese autonomous truck technology startup is improving drivers’ working conditions thereby aiming to reduce truck accidents on highways by up to 75%. Similarly, multiple others are using crowdsources data to divert drivers away from hazardous road and weather conditions. Many drivers currently use WhatsApp and other social media platform features to keep track of road blocks and many times regulatory checks (vehicle inspection, speed traps etc)
So, next time you receive a shipment from your favourite brand, spare a thought for the delivery person and many more who made it happen!
OTW
Over the Weekend, members of my family assembled in Dehradun to pay last respects to my uncle Col. Chandan Singh Bisht, SM who left for his heavenly abode after a brief struggle with C. He was loved during his life and remembered even more now for his courage during his service to the nation and in his short illness. My fondest memories of growing up have been to see him in his uniform whenever he would visit us and of course when he would treat us with chocolate ice-creams. More recently, he had taken up long distance bike rides and was kind enough to take me for few spins on his super-bike whenever we met in Dehradun.
He left us early but lived more than the years and continues to inspire us to do what we love. I am sure he is reading this and laughing it off as usual muttering “drama mat kar” so let me make it more worthwhile for him one more time and leave you with one more #EverGiven #SuezCanal meme for my running friends.
I Love You
Shailendra
Thanks for sharing such cool memes. The much awaited traffic has finally been got moving which has almost saved us from a crisis! A ship that is larger than any canadaian sky scrapper was a blockage for the 400 ships carrying around 10 billion worth goods to move along. Let's just hope that it doesn't happen again and if it does we are ready with a contingency plan.
Also, condolences to your family for the loss. Much respect to the late colonel. 🙏
superb collection of memes on Suez:
but once again it has made us realized that no matter how much we be advanced tech enabled we can never match the difficulties and obstacles created by nature and its ecosystem. what we can do is to make a delivery or logistic system which is least distracted by natural and mainly unavoidable by natural causes.
in the end I pay my Homage to sir and may his soul be rest in peace.