First, Middle, Final Mile: Dennis Anderson Speaks at Home Delivery World | ArcBest

Hello, everyone. This is Dennis Anderson with ArcBest. As we all know, final mile delivery is an essential solution to the needs of an Omni Channel consumer. But it's a dynamic and complicated space. The final journey of an order is driven by powerful factors like capacity constraints, changes in consumer buying behaviors, supply chain disruptions, and unforeseen events like a global pandemic. Since this spring, we've seen how the COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated the need for home delivery solutions. As people have stayed home more, all generations of consumers have quickly shifted away from traditional in-store purchasing habits and toward online sales and front porch deliveries. This fluctuation has created a new level of comfort and confidence in e-commerce purchases of all kinds. While the transition to more online shopping was already underway, the effects of the pandemic have pushed it further ahead in a short time. In late August, IBM's US Retail Index indicated that the shift from physical stores to digital shopping has been accelerated by about five years due to the pandemic. And according to the Q2 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, retail e-commerce in the second quarter was up almost 32% over the first quarter and almost 45% year over year. This surge in e-commerce has put a lot of pressure on logistics operations. Many brands are grappling with the challenge of providing home delivery for items that have never been delivered that way before, causing in many cases a need to rethink everything from product design and manufacturing to distribution and fulfillment. And this new normal has also shrunk the generally accepted service gap between small packages and heavy, bulky or XL shipments. Consumers no longer see as much of a distinction between the two. Regardless of the product, whether it's food, home furnishings, or small packages, the service expectations are now more similar than ever. Tight timelines from order to delivery, pre-appointments, and uninterrupted visibility are now table stakes, particularly for XL shipments. They're essential to brands and retailers' survival today. These increasing demands and expectations have created a heightened sense of urgency for everyone involved in the supply chain. Being sufficient is no longer enough. This has led the transportation industry to explore opportunities to optimize networks, capacity, and strategic partners in a more fluid manner. Those who can find a way to transform their existing capabilities into a dynamic, multifaceted model will succeed. Transportation companies will need to have a bias for continuous improvement. They will always be looking to optimize the flow of freight for the benefit of the consumer, retailer, and provider in a way that keeps costs down while maintaining a high level of service, speed, and precision. To thrive in the space, brands and retailers will have to be able to look further ahead and connect the first, middle, and final mile services into a seamless and flexible logistics model. In essence, companies increasingly need a partner that has it all. One with the capabilities, the capacity, and the technology to provide a seamless experience that ultimately delivers savings, assurance, and flexibility throughout the supply chain. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the home delivery community is still very fragmented. Most companies are one-dimensional, specializing in a single aspect of the supply chain. But at ArcBest, we have a unique perspective because we can do it all. ArcBest offers a full suite of logistic solutions that cover your supply chain from the first mile through the final mile. Whether it's LTL, truckload, time critical and expedite, premium logistics, managed transportation, international shipping, supply chain optimization, warehousing and distribution, product launch, retail logistics, or final mile, we have you covered from coast to coast, in North America and abroad. We're also an innovative and growth-oriented company with tremendous resources devoted to technology and innovation, and we are focused on creating and improving tech solutions that make it easier for our customers to do business. For decades, we've worked with our customers to make residential pickups and deliveries with a wide variety of service levels, from curbside and threshold to white glove and assembly. This experience has also taught us how to quickly adapt to changes in the environment. The most recent being the deployment of our porch service for consumers concerned with the pandemic. And we can provide home deliveries using our own equipment. In fact, we have more than 20 years of unique consumer-grade pickup, transportation, and delivery experience through our award-winning U-Pack household moving service. We've completed over one million household moves in that time. As a result, we have the solutions, technology, and experience to meet stringent shipper requirements and to handle an order from beginning to end. We also understand what it means to get it right for consumers when delivering to their home. We have years of experience collecting feedback and responding to the voice of the customer, and we have built a culture of continual improvement and innovation around that feedback. We also offer connectivity from the online shopping cart all the way to final delivery, with options that include API, EDI, SMS, our own web interface and tool set at arcb.com, and personal service from our team of creative problem solvers. Your final mile provider is seen by your customer as an extension of your brand. It's more important than ever to meet customer expectations, so it's beneficial if that provider works as a trusted partner with you. XL and bulky shipment deliveries are challenging, and many large nationwide providers don't want to go into neighborhoods and deliver the final mile, and parcel providers are not typically equipped to handle these items. Our vast experience with household and final mile moves gives us a unique perspective and comfort level with navigating neighborhoods to deliver large shipments in a residential environment using a combination of equipment and providers to get the job done. An advantage of using a top-tier logistics provider like ArcBest is that we have visibility and control over the entire process. We can orchestrate freight movement from end to end. ArcBest is a single-source logistics provider that can help across your entire supply chain. We all know supply chains are more complex than ever, and they will continue to evolve. One of the many benefits customers gain by using ArcBest is simplification. When you don't have to go to multiple providers to manage your supply chain, it's easier for you to do business. Your consumers will continue to become more and more comfortable with e-commerce for all types of goods. With the shift, technology, innovation, and service are more important than ever. At ArcBest, our goal is to deeply understand your overall business, supply chain, and pain points. Your priorities become our priorities, and we will collaborate with you to provide the best solution to meet any unique challenges. Home delivery is no longer an added convenience or a novelty; it's a part of daily life. Consumers expect shipping to be fast and visible. They want to know where their shipment is and when it will be delivered. Your final mile and overall supply chain strategy is a critical piece in today's environment, and analyzing that strategy, addressing pain points, and continuing to evolve will be key to future success. Visit us now at arcb.com to find out how ArcBest can help solve your logistics challenges. Have a great rest of the conference, and we would love to be helpful as you navigate this environment and the challenges ahead.