In today’s landscape, retailers already know how valuable data can be. Many are compiling ever-increasing amounts of data that reveal precious insights into customer shopping habits. In fact, 62 percent of retailers report gaining a competitive advantage due to data analytics, according to IBM.
But what might be less obvious is how data can overhaul other aspects of a retail business. As the data-gathering arms race heightens, retailers can implement business intelligence — i.e., the act of gathering data, analyzing it and turning it into actionable insights — into their delivery fleet management as well.
Effective implementation can overhaul the management of a delivery fleet for the better. It saves retailers precious time and money, streamlines inventory management, and improves overall service, helping retailers increase efficiency throughout the delivery process. Let’s review the benefits.
1. Saving Retailers Time and Money
Managing a retail delivery fleet is a tall task. With a large number of vehicles, parts, maintenance records and more to keep track of, using business intelligence to ease the process saves retailers valuable time and money.
However, the benefits extend beyond just repair and fuel savings. Implementing business intelligence best practices allows retailers to utilize data on historic journeys, real-time traffic, and the location of vehicles to schedule and dispatch jobs more efficiently.
Business intelligence also allows fleets to optimize routes using real-time updates on road congestion, traffic and roadblocks to give drivers alternate options that help ensure on-time deliveries.
2. Streamlining Inventory Management
Fleet managers must keep stock of everything from specific vehicles to the smallest individual parts, including maintenance records for all of these items. For example, tires are tracked via their TIN (tire identification number), and this number must be recorded each time, often by hand. With so many moving parts, things can easily fall through the cracks. And with manual record keeping, things are guaranteed to fall through the cracks.
Business intelligence helps streamline the record-keeping process by ensuring retailers have accurate data when they need it. In addition, the data that’s generated can help them recognize patterns and ultimately better manage inventory.
Streamlining a fleet’s inventory management introduces benefits that can be seen throughout the fleet’s operations. Not only will employees spend less time keeping records by hand and correcting human errors, but business intelligence also allows fleets to save on overall inventory costs and space with a streamlined approach.
3. Improving Service and Fleet Management
Effective implementation of business intelligence helps managers better understand their fleets, inspiring them to take action that improves efficiency and overall effectiveness.
By recognizing patterns and factoring in updated maintenance records, managers can proactively plan for vehicle maintenance. Upcoming vehicle maintenance reminders for brake lines, tires and other components, made possible using business intelligence, allows managers to optimize equipment life cycles and prevent costly maintenance issues from happening on the job.
A healthy fleet dramatically increases the effectiveness of the retailer’s ability to move inventory in a timely manner, preventing costly delays and improving overall efficiency. As pricing pressures continue to impact retailers’ bottom lines, cutting costs and refining efforts where possible becomes critical.
Retail delivery fleet management is simply the latest frontier that business intelligence is set to upend. By embracing its use, retailers can simplify their fleet operations and stay ahead of the game with a modernized fleet equipped to handle future growth.
Lukas Kinigadner is the CEO and co-founder of Anyline, an accurate, secure and integrated mobile data capture tool.
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