How to Reduce Transportation Costs in eCommerce using Big Data Analytics?

Logistics

The concept of big data is not new, it has been around for many years as the amount of data available to organisations is growing at an incredible pace. Big Data helps in gathering information, running analytics and pulling out useful information for future decisions whether it be in logistics, inventory management or reduction in transportation cost. Big Data provides useful insights in the supply chain, as the supply chain process involves several players and many decisions. Each step needs to work in perfect alignment with other factors, understanding how to coordinate all these factors is a critical aspect of supply chain management.

One of the requisite parts of the supply chain is transportation, as it plays an essential role of filling the gap between when a product is made and when the customer receives it. The importance of transportation can be traced back to the days before the age of computers. In recent years, we have seen great progression in technological advancement, which is making the process of transportation faster, cost-efficient and effective.The best way to manage a transportation cost is to plan for it and to plan we need to understand the challenges in transportation planning.

Challenges in Transport Cost Planning

  • What are the frequencies of delivery?
  • How can transport volumes be bundled?
  • What is the share of transport costs per unit in the future?

Let us learn how to reduce transportation costs in eCommerce using Big Data

  • Route Optimization: Organizations can utilize Big data for reducing costs and save money through efficient route optimization. Recipient status, traffic conditions and delivery sequences are used to calculate routes dynamically. Organisation can use the said data for identifying trends and optimizing routes which can lead to maximum efficiency and cost reduction. By equipping sensors on delivery trucks, organisations can accumulate the climate and the street information, such as noise, traffic density, pollution, parking spot utilization, etc. Big data can further help the organisation in analysing the information by recognizing the current patterns and optimising the most appropriate route for most extreme effectiveness.
  • Disruption Forecasting : Disruptions affect delivery flow. Big data can help the organisation in accurate forecasting of weather, and geopolitical stability that can help the organisation in managing transportation operations effectively. Additionally, Big data helps the organisation in differentiating between an event and an exception.
  • Supply Chain Analytics: Human errors can be eliminated with automated data capture and enhanced accuracy of data analytics systems. Whether it be finding the status of shipment, the arrival of time or monitoring stock levels. Big data can help organisations in improving supply chain decisions and thereby reducing cost.
  • Reduce Vehicle Usage: Ideal routes can decrease the necessity for different resources, and a large crowd of customers or delivery shipments are sometimes accessible to transporters along routes they would take anyway. Big data can help by providing proper information for facilitating adequate vehicles for pick-ups and shipment.
  • Improved Customer Support: Customer support management is used to respond to any inquiries that the customer has and resolve the issues as soon as possible. One of the most significant advantages of Big Data is the way that it has improved the experience of clients by refining their insight. The viable analysis of customer objections made a few times through Big Data could bring a more effective response, which can lead to reduction and effective management of cost. Additionally, thorough view on client necessities and administration quality is utilized to improve the product portfolio.
  • Proper Insights: Big data information can improve the experience of clients as well as signifies their insight. There are many organisations that have just begun utilizing big data to handle attainable quality of information continuously. Customer data is mapped against business parameters so as to anticipate and initiate countermeasures.
  • Efficient Operation: Big data is assisting many E-commerce businesses in making smart decisions. It is being utilized to eliminate blunders and decrease spending. It can further be help in cost reduction and improvise timing by discovering the issues related with postponements and delays for transport upkeep.

Conclusion:

To survive in today’s technologically driven world, several organisations are blending digital and human capabilities with proper planning to manage and analyse data. As we move into the future, having the right data and technologies at their service, organisations will be prepared for the Global market like never before.