Sitting at the restaurant table eating their favorite Mexican food together, the 15 year old daughter announced that she needed a copy of the Scarlet Letter for her Sophomore Honors English class by next week. And while the mother thought that she would simply stop at the bookstore on the way home, the father had a different idea. Logging into the website where he had a yearly subscription to free shipping, he ordered the book and announced that it would be at the house in two days. He placed and confirmed the order in the few minutes that it took the waitress to return with a new pitcher of ice water.
Even 10 years ago it may not have seemed likely that purchasing a single book online would make more sense than stopping by the local bookstore. In today’s reality, however, providing 24 or 48 hour door to door service is often the deciding factor that drives many purchases.
The success of today’s trade industry has come to the point of the success of door to door service. While we may seem like a world that depends upon international trade decisions and political policies, today’s economy is directly impacted by the quick and successful delivery of door to door products.
Air and Ocean Cargo Shipments Coordinated with Large Warehouse Storage Allows the Door to Door Service That Americans Have Come to Expect
Although the back story of the shipping and transportation industry involves everything from purchasing agent agreements and sea freight shipping, for most consumers the bottom line is two simple questions:
- When can I get my merchandise?
- How much will it cost me?
And while those two answers are at the very end of the purchasing process, they are sometimes all that matter to a consumer. A recent story on National Public Radio (NPR) explained that the online shopping environment and the shipping services are a major part of what is driving today’s U.S. economy. In an industry that is moving increasingly toward a point to point delivery system, the logistics experts who can best determine the central storage locations and the quickest and most cost effective delivery methods often determine the success of companies both large and small.
In the NPR August 8, 2016, report about Walmart purchasing a fairly unknown and not yet profitable online merchandiser called Jet.Com for $3.3 million seems to be another indicator of the need for even the biggest retailers to provide door to door service as well as competitive prices. Although the financial experts who NPR interviewed indicated that the door to door transport platform will continue to have a major impact in the retail industry, they also indicate that it is difficult to know the best secret to success.
Customers Have Always Responded to Door to Door Services
Although the fact that air transportation industry is the best form of transport for perishable goods that have a time sensitive delivery schedule, the end of the that delivery is still a door to door delivery system. Proven by the fact that so many home food services are thriving today, the to your door platform appears to be prevailing. Perhaps just like the aggressive door to door sales of the infamous encyclopedias and vacuum cleaners, today’s efficient logistics is often based on getting a variety of products to the customer’s door in a fast and affordable manner.
By definition, point-to-point transportation decreases the amount of traveling time needed because this platform is both fast and effective. In application, the most effective and affordable deliveries often make the decision for many consumers. With the advantage of comparing prices both online and in store, consumers can quickly calculate the cost in terms of money and time and make the decisions that work best for them. As a result, purchasing agents who can successfully predict the future needs of products and goods can help companies meet the needs of future customers. Rolling in the cost of aggressively negotiated delivery costs is an integral part of the job of purchasing agents and logistics engineers.
Interestingly enough, the same door to door delivery methods of the past are still what drive the success of the online and major retail companies today.
