You’ve decided to open a last-mile distribution center. Congratulations! These managed sales centers can be a great way to reduce shipping costs while getting product into your customers’ hands faster than traditional shipping methods. So how can you make your local community aware that your last-mile distribution center is open for business?

Last-mile challenges are a constant thorn in the side for most e-commerce businesses. Artificial intelligence, however, may have a role to play in solving this problem.

So goes e-commerce, so go last-mile solutions

As e-commerce continues its rise, the importance of last-mile delivery services only increases. Often a business’ reputation is tied to the type of delivery service a customer receives. Knowing this, it becomes imperative for e-commerce businesses to stand out and deliver the goods (literally and figuratively) in a timely manner.

How well do you know millennial shoppers?

By now most retailers should be familiar with the millennial shopper:

• 80 million U.S. consumers born between 1980 and 2000
• The first truly digital generation, they are “more wired, more community conscious, and more skeptical of traditional business practices” than previous generations.
• They spend $600 billion annually on goods and services.
• They are savvy value shoppers, relying on peer recommendations, online reviews and “show-rooming” to get the best prices.
• They prefer to spend money on experiences, not “stuff;” many don’t see themselves ever buying a car or a TV.

Think about your last e-commerce purchase experience. What’s one of the first things you think of? If you said the delivery of the product, you’re not alone.

Regardless of the experience of the actual purchase, the perception of the business — rightly, or wrongly — is often shaped by the circumstances surrounding the delivery.

We intend this blog to be a resource for direct selling and e-commerce businesses trying to overcome last-mile delivery and shipping challenges. We want to keep you informed about the latest news and trends in your industries, particularly when it comes to last-mile challenges and customer pick-up centers. This is the second part of a two-part series recounting our most popular blog posts covering these topics. See part one here. 

It’s important to us that we keep you informed about the latest trends in your industry, specifically last-mile challenges and customer pick-up centers. In case you missed them the first time around, here is a summary of our most popular posts thus far.

Local pick-up: It’s all about Amazon.

Lines are blurring between online giants and traditional retail stores.

• In June 2017, Amazon announced that it would pay $13.7 billion for Whole Foods, and Walmart announced that it would spend $310 million to acquire Bonobos, a brick-and-mortar men’s fashion brand.

Within any industry, there are issues that arise from time to time, and some issues that may arise more frequently. Direct sellers are not immune to these sorts of problems.

But like any successful enterprise, they look for ways to adapt. So, what are some common pain points direct selling organizations and their distributors face, and how can they overcome them?

Herbalife Nutrition is a $4.5 billion global nutrition company with more than 8,000 employees around the world. It relies on a network of dedicated independent distributors in more than 90 countries to sell nutrition, weight-management, energy and fitness, and personal-care products. So how can Herbalife best support its independent distributors, getting them fast-moving products when they need them without creating an inventory burden?

The answer is local sales centers.

The purchase process is quickly becoming a completely digital experience, with buyers and sellers all but eliminating human interaction. Almost everything can be done online. But is this what consumers want: no in-person customer service when purchasing a product?