DC Velocity - December 2019

newsworthy

LOGISTICS TECHNOLOGY SUPPLIER ZEBRA TECHNOLOgies Corp. will provide hundreds of thousands of handheld mobile computers to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), as the beleaguered post office seeks to optimize its operations while providing customers with speed, accuracy, and real-time tracking, Zebra said.

USPS will start deploying 300,000 of Zebra’s TC77 mobile devices as its next-generation mobile delivery device in the first half of 2020, using them to scan, track, and trace packages across its carrier network, Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Zebra said.

Zebra did not disclose the dollar value of the USPS contract.

The Postal Service has struggled in recent months to turn a profit, reporting nearly $2.3 billion in losses for its fiscal third quarter as it searches for a way to convert its nationwide first-class-mail network into a system that can handle a rising tide of e-commerce packages.

Investing in technology upgrades like the TC77s may be a first step on that journey. Zebra rolled out the rugged devices, which are designed for applications in retail, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics, in 2018. The devices are based on Google Inc.’s Android operating system (OS), a popular consumer technology that is rapidly gaining traction in industrial markets thanks in part to companies’ efforts to provide workers with technology similar to what they use in their private lives. n

Retailers should brace for a strong “Amazon effect” this holiday season, as more shoppers seek free and fast delivery of their holiday purchases, according to a survey by logistics technology company Convey.

The Austin, Texas-based firm’s third annual consumer survey identified shipping costs as the most important factor (64%) in holiday delivery, followed by speed (19%), with more than twice as many consumers citing delivery speed as important as respondents did last year ( 9.7%), according to the company. The report, titled Last-Mile Delivery Wars: How to Keep Retail Promises and Win With Reliability, was based on a survey of more than 2,500 U.S. consumers.

The survey also found that a faster estimated delivery date (EDD) in the online shopping cart has a big impact on purchase decisions, with nearly 29% of shoppers saying they would be more likely to buy if the order would arrive within a week, compared with just 7.5% who said the shipping date doesn’t affect their likelihood to buy. Nearly 80% of respondents cited free two-day shipping as important. By contrast, just 31% of respondents said store pickup is important, “suggesting that the alternative retailers have come to rely on as a means for competing on fast and free fulfillment pales in comparison to speedy delivery,” the researchers said.

In other findings, the survey showed that late delivery of packages ( 38.6%) was respondents’ number-one concern this holiday, followed by the fear of theft, with nearly 22% of respondents saying they are worried their packages will be stolen after delivery. “Given this concern, it’s no surprise that two-thirds of shoppers ( 66.5%) say the ability to track packages en route is an important service, while 12.8% say they’d like the option to change delivery destinations once orders are in transit,” the company said in a release. n Shoppers demand speed, not just free shipping, this holiday season