A product’s journey from an online order all the way to the destination is full of challenges. In a typical manual based system, information can be spread across many different documents, delivery notes, and manifests – all of which can potentially be lost, damaged, misfiled, or returned late.

With more businesses moving towards digital commerce, the task of managing a growing list of administrative duties becomes ever more challenging. Digitisation paves the way not just for process automation of the purchasing systems, but can also be of benefit during product delivery.

A Forrester Research report states that B2B ecommerce transactions are expected to be a $1.2 trillion industry by 2021. Such a massive rise in online sales means that there will be a correspondingly large number of delivery slips to print and handle, and process automation will be a way to mitigate the challenges such a large volume of transactions always brings. Businesses moving into the B2B ecommerce arena will need to retool their processes to ensure that proof of delivery remains efficient.

Reducing Proof Of Delivery Costs Through Automation

Verifying and processing delivery slips manually is a time intensive task that is prone to human error. Most business documents produced today are entirely digital, but the delivery personnel still requires physical copies.

Paper versions of proof of delivery are often lost or illegible. Not being able to prove that delivery took place means that the business will be unable to bill their customers, or have to incur the costs of delivering a second time. Automation promises to remove the majority of the above challenges by streamlining the process and boosting productivity.

Examples Of Proof Of Delivery Automation

Here are three examples of how organisations can implement automation to improve the efficiency of their delivery systems.

Automate How You Collect The Information

Every delivery slip displays vital information such as the delivery address, product details and quantity, delivery date, sender and receiver information etc. An automated process ensures that all of the above information is collected accurately during the online checkout procedure using a series of prompts and information fields. Once the data has been added to the database, it can then be inserted into the relevant areas on the delivery slip automatically.

Automate How The Delivery Is Confirmed

A digital proof of delivery system will mean that the customer can provide their signature via an electronic tablet, mobile phone or other devices. The confirmation is then instantly transferred to the organisation’s system, which effectively removes the risk of documents being lost or illegible at the end of the workday.

Automate Updates Of The Delivery System

Sometimes deliveries can not be made – because of damaged or missing products, or if there is no one to receive it. When you automate the process, the notification is sent to the system in real-time. The customer service department now has up-to-the-minute information that will allow them to promptly and efficiently deal with the situation. Company stock levels can also be instantly updated to reflect the change.

By incorporating one or more of the above strategies into their delivery system, a company will be able to improve their efficiency, save time, and increase their profit margins.