Convey, the six-year-old company trying to reinvent supply chains, has announced a partnership with MercuryGate that it said will improve the last-mile delivery experience for shippers and end customers.
Convey’s Delivery Experience Management (DEM) software will be integrated into MercuryGate’s transportation management system (TMS) to provide an end-to-end experience for users seeking to launch DEM programs for improved visibility and delivery experiences.
“While the advanced planning and optimization capabilities of MercuryGate allows shippers to make promises to their customers, the integration with Convey gives them the critical tools and capabilities to keep those promises,” Michael Miller, vice president of channel and alliances for Convey, told FreightWaves. “When fed back into the MercuryGate TMS, Convey’s rich data can actually enhance decisions such as carrier selection, routing, etc. For supply chain executives increasingly on the hook for customer experience, customer satisfaction and net promoter scores (NPS), these tools and insights can make a measurable difference in business outcomes.”
The integrated solution allows shippers to see customer orders through to delivery with in-transit insights and collaborative tools. This insight offers opportunities to alter the delivery expectations if needed through exception management tools and communicate that to customers.
“This goes back to being able to make an EDD (estimated delivery date) promise – and keeping it,” Miller said. “Among other things, Convey’s platform enables shippers to proactively identify at-risk shipments in real-time and take action to get them back on track – often before the customer knows there is an issue.”
Miller said Convey’s DEM platform offers “advanced self-service capabilities for consumers, such as delivery appointment scheduling through branded tracking pages that deepen customer loyalty and increase lifetime customer value.”
Shippers using MercuryGate’s TMS with this new integration will be able to collaborate with carriers and communicate with customers through shared tools, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and lifetime value, the companies said. Improved visibility also provides leverage to shippers for improved cost control and performance, they added.
“It is critical that one have full control tower visibility throughout the supply chain, especially at the last mile,” Joe Juliano, president and CEO of MercuryGate International, Inc. said. “Integrating the Convey functionality to the MercuryGate TMS will allow the shipper to take proactive steps to address a potential disruption before it becomes a service failure by communicating with the customer. With exception management workflows, you may be able to get an order back on schedule or make alternate plans, such as sourcing the product from another location close to the end consumer.”
Miller noted that the fast-changing dynamics of last-mile delivery will also be felt beyond retail channels, affecting third-party logistics suppliers and shippers and carriers, even those not directly involved with retail.
“MercuryGate has a large number of retail shippers and 3PLs
[third-party logistics providers]
that support e-commerce businesses. This solution is highly relevant for a large percent of their customer base,” he said. “We also believe strongly that the Amazon effect extends beyond retail and that the core value proposition around Delivery Experience Management will be increasingly relevant to other segments of the market over time.”
The integration also extends the market potential of DEM as shippers look for ways to innovate to meet end-customer demands.
“These days shippers are having to experiment quite a bit with new carriers, new service levels, new fulfillment methods (ship from store, dropship, forward stocking locations, etc.),” Miller said. “Convey minimizes the risks associated with these strategies so they can explore new ideas while continuing to maintain strong operational control and – most importantly, a consistent customer experience.”
