The escalation of eCommerce during the pandemic has meant the retail landscape has jumped forward 5 – 10 years in terms of uptake and consumer engagement with a 50% increase in online sales. And what’s inevitable is the inexorable demand for faster and faster deliveries.

Once customers were content with 3-5 days to deliver. Those days are long gone. Driven by service standards set by the retail leaders like Amazon, delivery is expected in 24 hours. And in major urban conurbations, such as London and Manchester or even Basingstoke, consumers are starting to demand same day delivery. Order AM, get delivered same day or even within a couple of hours. The progress to nationwide same day is inevitable as consumer demand drives the need for more and more urgent fulfilment and delivery.

How do you scale this nationally? The delivery density and demand in major conurbations means it’s worthwhile having a major distribution centre fed on the previous day’s retail algorithms, that can accurately predict 80% of the next day demand. Amazon, for example have 9 distribution centres doing just this. Clever stuff. But from Plymouth to Penrith, how do you roll this our nationally, or indeed globally? One company seems to have the answer.

Diamond Logistics welcomed its 33rd network partner in October as it added to its network of micro fulfilment centres around the UK. Its logistics platform, despatchlab, enables same day courier companies and hauliers to join the network immediately providing the area with micro warehousing and same day delivery facilities.

Locally these Network partners help small businesses to fulfil and deliver – traditionally same day, overnight and international as well as eCommerce fulfilment. And on the back of this network, retailers can start to build their future vision of eCommerce fulfilment – nationwide same day fulfilment and delivery. And, as Amazon has shown, those brands at the forefront of their clients expectations in terms of desire fulfilment will gain advantage on their peers.

Diamond’s CEO, Kate Lester, explains, ‘Our aim is to have a minimum of 80-100 fulfilment centres around the UK thus enabling the revolution in same day delivery. It’s a technology based solution facilitated by our logistics platform, despatchlab, backed with the essential infrastructure that already exists in the UK. We haven’t reinvented the wheel – we’ve super charged it with tech, building this ability harder and faster to keep up with accelerating demand’.

Innovation in the logistics space is notoriously slow so how has this company morphed from its traditional base in same day courier for over 20 years, to the UK’s fastest growing logistics network? ‘It’s all about the tech and the service diversity – fulfilment AND multiple modes of delivery’, Kate explains. ‘despatchlab is the enabler. The innovation from within the logistics industry has been woeful, but equally the logistics from external tech firms has been impractical. Our skill set, experience and innovation gives our clients and network partners the best of both worlds – all the services they need for growth and the innovative tech to ensure the client experience and service delivery that is reflective of 2020, and not 1980!’.

Where does Diamond see the future of fulfilment? It’s all about same day delivery. Kate is certain, ‘Anyone can deliver overnight – it’s now the acceptable norm. But in the future, those retailers wishing to grab market share, will have to accelerate the Logistical response to new age customer demands. It will be same day order and delivery, all the way’. And Diamond are at the forefront of this service provision.

If you wish to touch base to either join as a network partner or as a client then get in touch: kate@diamondlogistics.co.uk or 01483 536888

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