Breaking New Horizons Through Last Mile Drone Delivery

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• Sasi George
• May 23, 2020

A Drone belongs to the category of an ‘unmanned aircraft vehicle’ (UAV). These have been utilized by defence forces in various capacities such as remote-controlled aircrafts or missiles for years. In the recent past there has been an increase in the usage of drones for commercial purposes.

Such drones are designed to safely deliver goods to customers at the shortest possible time – and the service is referred to as last mile drone delivery.

The Federal Aviation Administration now allows firms with the know-how to operate Drones to apply for certificates that allow them to utilize (non-governmental) ‘civil’ drones for research, development, deliveries, photography, agricultural requirements and real estate purposes.

The global drone package delivery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 44.7% for the forecast period (2019-2025). Development of drones that function in diverse regions and incorporation of IoT in the ecosystem of drone deliveries are few major options for players in this domain.

Benefits of Drone delivery

A delivery drone is an autonomous aerial vehicle, often unmanned that is utilized to transport packages, food or other items. Drones are particularly of use commercially to transport goods because it is safe, quick, not hampered by terrain and does not cause congestion.

E-commerce giant Amazon is working on Prime Air, a – futuristic delivery system that is designed to safely deliver packages via drones to customers in 30 minutes enhancing the last mile delivery domain.

Although Prime Air is in the pipeline and will see the light of day soon, drone delivery service will bring few significant changes in E-commerce and retail segments.

Drones will take up majority of deliveries

Drone technology for commercial use is still at a nascent stage and the finer points of Amazon’s plan for last mile drone delivery has not yet been revealed. The ground-breaking, needful and innovative of all the potential impacts of drone delivery would be majority of the deliveries would be taken over by drones.

Due to shortened delivery time schedules, firms would take up this aspect on priority to deliver goods within the vicinity as it would reduce infrastructure and enhance profitability.

Quick purchases made possible

Many retailers do already offer quick deliveries. Nowadays you could order anything and get it delivered to you on the same day. Prime Air’s promise of 30 minutes drone delivery will only encourage people to hit that ‘Buy’ button more frequently.

You could get anything you need delivered, as in food during a last minute decided party or an apparel for a high profile meeting being held at a short notice.

And to top it off, these purchases will not be limited to deliveries to your home. As in online delivery now, drones will be able to drop off goods/items that you need wherever you are – that is whether you are at home, in the office or traveling.

No Limitations To Reach Out For Products

There’s no coffee at home, your favourite brew? You need to purchase your kid’s camel-hair paint brushes for the competition on the very next day. Your printer needs a colour ink cartridge to print a document urgently.

To solve all these pressing problems that most folks face at regular frequency takes time, money, patience and resources. But soon that would be a thing of the past after the introduction of last mile drone delivery.

All you would have to do is login to the apt website or get on to an App and with a few clicks it’s done. Drones will bring your necessities to you wherever you are in the shortest possible time. This sort of convenience and haste could be an able competition for brick-and-mortar stores.

Drone delivery could be automated

Commercial application of drones is a subject that is not everyone’s cup of tea. Personnel who man these machines require hours of training on how to carry out a successful delivery or what needs to be done in case of an anomaly.

The pilots would be placed far away and would have to go through complex training to learn how to control the drone device. There should be systems/procedure in place on how to react during an emergency.

Indications are in place that Amazon drone delivery could be automated and without human intervention to overcome such situations.

Even though there is evidence that automation inculcates safer versions machine activity and technology, not everyone is comfortable with systems and algorithms.

UPS, FedEx and US Postal Service will take a beating

There are many agencies that handle shipments of Amazon and other retailers, hence when these firms turn to newer technology those firms could face a drastic drop in business. When you look at the $1 billion worth of business that Amazon offered to UPS in the year 2016, you can fathom what could be the situation as of now.

Experts estimate that USPS handles almost 41% of Amazon’s deliveries. Therefore it is fair to say that Amazon Prime-Air’s service is a Damocles sword that is hanging on the future of UPS, FedEx and the USPS.

Consumer rights protection

Grey regions in this kind of a service exists, as they would reveal only when the service in taken up extensively. There are many topics that have not been broached, one certainly is the consumer protection laws.

Consumer rights as how would authorities handle a situation when the merchandise is stolen along with the drone? What steps could be taken in the event the goods delivered to a client is damaged? How can these be returned after a drone-delivery? Of course these would be taken up, worked upon and solutions discovered before the services are pressed into action.

Conclusion Last Mile Drone Delivery

Even though there is a lot to be instilled in  the various aspects of drone delivery, there is no doubt that this a part of the future. There has always been teething problems whenever newer technology is imbibed on a large scale.

There could be other issues to consider with new technology, such as problems that have occurred with self-driving cars. There could be a failure in software that could cause collisions and damages.

Also drones could have restricted air space to complete the 30-minutes delivery promise schedules. Therefore online retailers such as Amazon or Walmart that deliver goods, will need more facilities and warehouses within reach in urban and suburban areas.

So there could be a consideration to collaborate with brick-and-mortar retailers as JioMart has resorted to that would in turn create a win-win situation for all entities.

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COVID 19 Impact On Apps In Diverse Domains

• Sasi George
• May 19, 2020

Businesses across all domains and regions are experiencing the ill effects of the pandemic. COVID 19 impact on apps has been not been difficult to fathom. The pandemic has shown how vulnerable we humans are without technology and how significant apps have been in keeping us engaged, informed, and sane.

People spent 21% more time utilizing apps in the first quarter of 2020 compared to last year. Consumers spent over $24 billion in app stores in the first quarter this year, the largest spend recorded for a quarter.

Pandemic-induced physical distancing has changed the equation consumers have with apps. Now with the physical world hibernating, consumers are reliant on apps for communication, shopping, health, and entertainment.

Some industries like travel, hospitality, mobility, and real estate are facing the strain of the pandemic and others such as web conferencing, fitness, telemedicine are enjoying a well-deserved growth.

Consumers are looking at innovative ways to manage their daily routine while in lockdown and apps could provide a suitable answer.

Apps Purchased By Different Age Groups

COVID 19 impact on diverse domains 

Fitness Apps 

Fitness apps have observed high incidence of usage with a surge in daily and weekly active users. These apps now offer free lessons and is engaging users through their social media accounts to organize daily lessons and increase engagement.

There is a positive influence as users come to the app daily. Apps now focus more on providing quality content to the end-user so that they become loyal to the platform.

Fitness apps are tailoring their communication to help users to work out from home using mundane objects like chairs, water bottles, electric equipment, etc.

Spiritual Apps

Spiritual apps have recorded a massive dose in user activity, installs, and other KPIs. These apps have espoused a holistic approach to CRM and user acquisition.

They rolled out crisis management content to help consumers unwind, relieve the stress, and deal with anxiety. Such content is being offered free and is accessible to all those who download these apps.

Brands have changed from a premium to a freemium model and introduced meditation programs for all age groups.

Popular App Usage Categories

Games Apps 

Gamification platform is offering customized solutions to businesses thereby reporting good acquisition while retaining existing users.

Most of the new users come from inbound efforts as more and more brands realize that the gamification app for learning is not just a bonus but an acceptable need.

Language Apps

Language learning apps observed a huge boost with an upswing in DAU and installs. They are now offering ad hoc personalizations without being too stingy and are focusing on providing a positive distraction in people’s lives.

The high-priced all-language package has seen more adoption. Not many people used to buy it because of the price and the proposition of learning multiple languages simultaneously. But change in this behavior can be attributed to the availability of solo-space.

Web Conferencing Apps

Given the sheer volume of people working remote – video chat and online conference apps are experiencing an explosive growth. In the US these apps witnessed a humongous 600% increase in downloads, and a 120% increase in daily users (DAUs).

Apps Deleted By Age Groups Due To Poor Aesthetics

Insurance Apps 

Insurance apps noticed an initial dip as consumers went about securing food, shelter, and essentials, which has stabilized. Insurance providers are focusing on educating users about being insured during a crisis.

Working part-time would not consider them as full-time employees. Creating content that assists to comprehend policies is being looked into.

Delivery Apps

Delivery Apps have shifted focus and strategy from food & restaurants to grocery and essentials. On-demand courier service is working with charity organizations to deliver products free to senior citizens and helping the medical industry.

Social Media

Social media usage soared from 20% of total mobile app usage in January, to 25% in mid-March. In fact, between January and March, daily active users on Instagram and Facebook climbed to 124 million and 196 million, respectively.

Steps to stay afloat

Businesses are concentrating on verticals such as Pharma and Retail. They have also changed their social media strategy by increasing their presence on LinkedIn. Brands have gone from publishing weekly to posting every day to show clients that they haven’t stopped working.

Brands have leveraged opportunities to enter other categories like grocery, which is experiencing a steep growth as people during a lockdown prefer ordering groceries online.

Average Time Spent On Various App Categories By Age

Brands are introducing personalization in their welcome flow, and point to offers such as podcasts, one-month free for students, and one week of free trial. They are also strategically modifying their user acquisition norms and engagement design to increase content frequency with engagement patterns in mind.

Most of the brands echoed the same sentiment of prioritizing users and helping them instead of aiming for profits even if it meant incurring short term losses.

Right now, it is about showing your app is a genuine need and can resolve pain points, and which can have a long term positive effect on the LTV.

Content assets i.e. copy and creative are focusing on stress reduction without talking about the COVID 19 impact. They noticed CPI/CPS has dropped considerably, making user acquisition cheaper.

Brands doing it right are already recording upswing in retention and session duration.

Measuring the COVID 19 Impact

Healthcare apps in South East Asia are categorized as emerging even though they have minimal active users. Although DAUs of healthcare apps are declining, there has been a 110% increase in spend on these apps during the pandemic

Real estate is seeing a coincidental increase and decrease worldwide. In Middle-East Asia these apps are exploding in popularity, but elsewhere it’s a slowdown. This could be due to restrictions being lifted in certain regions.

Apps have allowed us to remain connected in a time of crisis, and facilitate spread of reliable information during lockdown. Marketers usually prioritize ROI, but now isn’t the time to focus on profits, instead be an empathetic brand.

In conclusion, the essential learning across all verticals has been to empathize with the user during these tough times and focus on helping them solve pain points rather than hard selling.

Transform Grocery Stores To Become Digitally Inclined

• Sasi George
• May 16, 2020

The grocery industry is reinventing itself to meet the rapidly changing shopping habits post COVID-19. Grocers are adopting apps and a multi-channel approach to ensure speedy delivery.

Apps play a critical role in a multi-channel approach. The percentage of shoppers offering mobile apps grew from 30% to 54% in the past few years. But many of today’s grocery store apps fall short of providing convenience that shoppers seek.

Comprehend Your Shopper’s Needs and The Competition

Businesses launch apps without considering the needs of their shoppers and without focusing to be better than the competition.

Shoppers prioritize – competitive prices, quality products, worthy promotions, easy processes, clean stores, engaging customer service and quick checkout lines. A successful shopping app should meet these demands.

Design your app taking into account client needs and expectations

• Frequency of visits to your app
• Time and days of the week? Large shopping or frequent trips?
• Which departments and deals appeal to them?
• Do they carry shopping lists with them?
• Have they adopted digital wallets, smart-watches, and digital assistants?
• What do they dislike about their experience? What do they want that you don’t offer?
• Why might your shoppers turn to another store and when?

After identifying the above you can then create your app’s core features, the branding, and consider other crucial decisions.

Ensure Ease of App Usage

Trends in the food industry applications are similar to grocery store apps. The below given features will create a better consumer experience by making your app user friendly.

Browse and Search Inventory

To create a good shopping experience shoppers need to find the items they want without too much effort. This is not easy given the range of items available. Accomplish this is by optimizing your app’s browsing structure and search facility.

Smart search must be inculcated to limit the typing input. Also, a consumer should be instantly aware if an item is in stock.

When a shopper selects a product, the app should direct them to a screen that offers a detailed product description including nutritional info if relevant.

Improve your grocery app’s browse features by making it dynamic.

Grocery Apps Downloaded In One Month

Save and Sync Shopping Lists

One of the most neglected feature in grocery apps is the option to save shopping lists or show frequently purchased items.

Adding sync functionality to the shopping list feature is an innovative way to cater to shopper expectations. You could also sync shopping lists by syncing it with your store’s website and app.

Apps should include ways to check off items while shopping in-store.

Apps may provide product suggestions and allow shoppers to view items they purchase frequently, check availability of products and estimate the total price of items on a shopping list.

Accurate and Intuitive Coupons

Coupon features are confusing in grocery store apps. Provide value with minimal effort to make it effective.

The first step is to organize them in a manner that it is easy for shoppers to locate. Remember coupon filtering, sorting, and searching needs to be easy and intuitive.

A barcode scanner can be included in the App that would automatically explore for relevant coupons.

After shoppers identify the coupons they wish to utilize, they got to select and keep it ready during checkout. Adding the coupons automatically is recommended on selection. Be sure to include the option to add all coupons as opposed to making shoppers select them one at a time.

Coupons should sync instantly with shopper reward cards. Your shoppers should also have the ability to add coupons they find in your store to their app’s shopping list for use during checkout.

Quick Mobile Checkout

Shoppers hate waiting in line at the store. Beyond self-checkout, mobile wallets also help in the checkout process. Some food retailers are considering scan-as-you-go feature, the same can be imbibed here too.

Mobile wallets appealed to 16% of shoppers and scan-as-you-go to 18% in 2019.

Communicating Your Brand Through Visual Design

It makes sense to ensure your app looks and feels just as a brick-and-mortar store.

This is more like conveying to shoppers that they’re not in unfamiliar territory. Starbucks app adopted this branding technique across their website and app. They attempt to enhance the digital experience of customers such that, they perceive themselves sipping a personalized drink in a Starbucks cafe.

If the app for your reputed grocery store looks generic with poor design and a poor digital experience, it diminishes your brand value and erodes customer loyalty.

Understanding Use Cases and Consistency Across Platforms

Grocers need to communicate their brands across Apps and new platforms. Leverage various screen sizes, content and environments, to provide value and consistency whether shoppers are engaging online, on your app, or in-store.

This is how you provide value at crucial moments of a shopper’s multi-channel experience.

Create an user experience that is intuitive and flows seamlessly between platforms. Shoppers should understand the benefits of each platform and easily move among them to accomplish goals.

Grocery App Users

Removing Barriers of Entry

Many grocery store apps have their features hidden behind sign-ins and logins. Do not resort to putting obstacles in the course of your shoppers. It could confuse and frustrate them. They could lose valuable time and patience.

One way to familiarize shoppers with your app is to build trust with them and encourage them to try out features available before requiring them to register.

Use your on-boarding messages to entice shoppers with valuable features after a sign-up.

Keep the registration process simple, intuitive and easy for those who look to use all features of your app. Make logging in straightforward for users returning after some duration.

Don’t harass shoppers to login. You could leverage biometric login or integrate with popular password apps for easy access.

Go a step ahead and utilize deep linking to funnel shoppers to a specific screen within the app.

Personalizing Your Shopper’s Experience

As consumers grow accustomed to utilizing apps to shop, they expect better interaction with the provider. Shoppers look to go beyond opting for local stores and encashing rewards.

Most grocery app users want to choose the rewards they are entitled to, while 28% want to receive personalized offers.

Personalization makes shoppers feel that their needs are being considered instead of resorting to a one-size-fits-all approach. Grocery store apps should have personalized features so that shoppers perceive they’re choosing an app that is different from the rest, realize their personality and value them.

How could you accomplish this?

• Ensure that the app has the ability to learn shopping patterns and promote products they usually purchase.
• Offer special deals that considers a clients shopping habits.
• Make browsing dynamic and suggest relevant products based on popular choices in the geographic region, seasonal necessities, and repeatedly ordered goods.
• Leverage geo-location to greet customers when they ingress a store and offer relevant deals as they move through the stores.
• Provide 3D store navigation map for shoppers and key locations based on a shopping list.

These strategies would make shopping easier for customers, create loyalty, increasing shopping trips, and enhance purchases.

Concluding Note

Successful apps are crafted from extensive research, competitive analysis, branding needs, user experience formulation, testing, and more. Grocers have an opportunity to improve their businesses and solve shoppers tryst with apps.

Having a customer centric approach grocery store apps can reduce pain-points and hindrances to create a joyful shopping experience for customers and deliver optimal value. All it takes is a judicious study to know what strategy, design, development and marketing can coalesce to create an amazing app.

Take up the challenge to create an app that resonates with your clients and surpasses the competition.

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