Logistics Middle East – August 2019

LEADERS IN LOGISTICS BREAKFAST | CASE STUDY

http://www.logisticsmiddleeast.com LOGISTICS MIDDLE EAST | AUGUST 2019 29

reverse logistics.”

Digitisation in the Last

Mile

The second panel discussion

of the morning focused on

the last mile, and it’s extreme

importance to operating a

successful e-commerce

company. What is the most

important moment shap-

ing customer perception in

a consumer-facing opera-

tion or process? This was the

question put to our panel-

lists. Is it when customers

make first contact with your

business? Is it in the last mile

of the transaction? Or is it

somewhere in-between? Ac-

cording to many disruptors

in t he la st m ile space, a more

important question is when

are customers most likely to

drop your business (or your

clients’ business) in favour

of an alternative?

The a nswer in t h is reg ion

is unique to the make-up of

the e-commerce sector here.

The majority of transactions are completed through cash on

delivery, and many addresses and consumer locations can be

difficult to find for the courier and other delivery operatives.

For new logistics technology platforms this provides a ripe

market for disruption as they seek to make the logistics of

the last mile more digital and therefore more efficient and

consumer-oriented.

One such disruptor is Fetchr, whose patented geo-tagging

and last mile solutions have made it a force to be reckoned

with in the regional market, but according to Rabih Allaf,

growth director, fetchr, while the technology for same-day

delivery or even delivery within the hour exists, the roll out

is held up by the customer. “When we talk about the last mile

in the region we really need to start thinking of it in terms of

an hour or hours, rather than days,” he told delegates. “And

we’re capable of doing last mile delivery within the hour in

Dubai, but the problem is the manpower it requires, its more

expensive, and when you delivery the package the customer

staff to boost the daily capacity
of the crossing. On a good day it
takes three to six hours for our
vehicles to get over the border
from the time they arrive.”
Summing up, our modera-
tor Mark Heald, head of sup-
ply chain, Al Futtaim Retail,
points out that the challenge
then it multi-faceted. “It’s not
just what we’re sending across
the border, but how we’re send-
ing it,” he tells delegates. “There
a fragmentation between the
processes and KPIs of the UAE
and KSA, if we work from the
same system, a common sys-
tem with a common language
then possibly the speed can be
enhanced. In addition, I think
we need to get bet ter at keeping
our customers up-to-date on
the status of their shipment,”
he says. “If consumers are kept
informed about the goods right
from the time of order, through
to transport and when they’re
waiting at the border, that will
go a long way to reducing the
amount of cancelled orders and

PANEL: DIGITISATION

IN THE LAST MILE

MODERATOR:

DEEPAK KHUSHALANI,

MANAGING DIRECTOR,

PREMIER LOGISTICS

PAN E L:

MOHAMED SLEEQ,

CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER,

ARAMEX

FADI AMOUDI, FOUNDER

& CEO, IQ FULLFILMENT

GAURAV BISWAS,

FOUNDER & CEO, TRUK-

KER TECHNOLOGIES

BORHENE BEN MENA,

CEO, SHIPA DELIVERY

RABIH ALLAF, GROWTH

DIRECTOR, FETCHR