Docdata: 'Our customers all have their own take on e-commerce'

A
company that processes between 250,000 and 350,000 orders a day simply has to rely on
automated systems. But if every online shop (and therefore every customer) has
own view of logistics, how do you ensure that, as a logistics
service provider? Maurice Smedts, commercial manager at
Docdata, and Denis Weiland, Director of Operations, will explain at
Logistiek & E-commerce how Docdata deals with its customers’ requirements
.

“We work with
a diverse range of clients. They all have their own ideas about e-commerce:
which channels they want to use, and what the customer experience should be like. As a result, we have to
tailor all our processes”, explains Smedts. “The foundation lies in
picking,
sorting,
packing.
That’s the same for every customer. But personalisation can go a long way. This ranges from a relatively simple task, such as wrapping gifts and adding a printed greeting card, to personalising a football shirt or including a handwritten letter. For some customers, for example, we include detailed product descriptions (such as for wines) and recipes that complement the products purchased. “With activities like these, we can add significant value to the end consumer’s experience,” says Smedts.

Web shops that are customers of Docdata have the option to let consumers order until midnight, after which the package is delivered the next day. This is an important pillar of the logistics provider, but certainly not the most important one. "The race to a later cut-off time is no longer necessary, we have actually already run that," Smedts says about this. According to the commercial manager, it is now much more relevant that customers have a choice. "Of course you want to be in the evening hours, because people do sit on the couch with their iPad ordering things between nine and ten. But it is much more important that the customer can indicate that he can receive his parcel next Monday, because he happens to be at home then. Or he wants to pick it up at a pick-up point or in a vault. That possibility should be there." According to Weiland, customers do feel the pressure to go along with a late cut-off time because competitors do the same. "Even later is really not necessary. It is much more important to offer the choice for specific time deliveries, for example."

Is it still of our time to make consumers wait longer than a day for a parcel? "In the Netherlands, we are fairly spoilt in that area. In other countries, for example, they think more easily about it. Our system is set up to deliver the next day, but in some cases it takes several days," says Weiland. Smedts cites the Bijenkorf as an example. "Recently, we ran a project with Bijenkorf in which stocks from its central warehouse were also available online. In practice, this meant that customers had to wait an extra day until they received their item. Despite that extra day, sales went up." The same applies to bol.com. "If stock is with us, end customers have it the next day. But bol.com also sells stock from suppliers and that takes one or more days longer. As long as customers are well informed, they don't necessarily mind waiting a bit longer."

Yet Docdata also provides same-day delivery for some online shops. "For some products, this is not interesting at all. But for example, if people have a broken freezer, I can imagine that they like to have a new freezer within the same day. So it completely depends on the product," said Weiland. Because volumes are still relatively low, the same-day delivery option is still relatively expensive. "If consumers start ordering en masse in the morning and choose same-day delivery, we can handle more volume in the morning. That option would then become a lot cheaper, for both us and the carriers."

Which speaker at Logistics & E-commerce are Weiland and Smedts themselves looking forward to? "We find it interesting to see how the owner of Picnic (Frederik Nieuwenhuys, ed.) puts his bedrjif away. That's a fantastically beautiful story. In addition, it's always good to see what's happening at Wehkamp, for example."

Editorial LogistiekProfs