Amazon Pressures Groceries with New Delivery Service

Fresh stores from Amazon are popping up in selected areas, offering a closer look at the online retail giant’s plans for competing with traditional grocery chains.
Amazon Fresh offers grocery shopping either in-store or online.
The real game-changer, however, is the expansion of delivery services.
Customers can choose an attended delivery, where groceries are delivered in plastic bags and must be received by the customer at a Fresh store. Alternatively, they can choose unattended deliveries, which are dropped off at the customer’s doorstep in a few hours.
Amazon’s expansion of service, leaves smaller retailers at a disadvantage. Therefore creative companies are turning to resources like route planning programs to quickly add new delivery services to better serve their customers. This is one of the ways in which they can compete with big corporations and perhaps consumers should be happy with this change.

Courier Optimization Solution for Local Deliveries

MyRouteOnline route optimization and fleet management software can help local retailers, of any size, plan the shortest routes. Making it more feasible and cost effective to begin or expand their delivery options.
Users simply upload the delivery addresses and let MyRouteOnline analyze information about distances, road speed, customers’ preferred delivery times, etc. The program creates the most efficient routes, and these can be printed or exported to a device, like an Android or iPhone for navigation.
For small businesses and companies delivering small orders, route planners can optimize single-day, single-vehicle routes. It’s an affordable way to ensure that a delivery vehicle makes all the necessary stops at the right times, while also preventing the unnecessary backtracking that adds hours to driving time and wastes fuel.

Competitive Advantages of Online Route Planning

The big retailers are already fighting back against Amazon by offering their own curbside and delivery services. Walmart launched its two-hour grocery delivery service, and Instacart rolled out 30-Minute grocery delivery for dozens of retailers Including Ralphs, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market and Stater Bros.
But online route planning helps smaller companies compete, while still benefiting from savings in time, fuel, and money. The benefits start from the ease of use and simplicity of planning the routes, allowing staff members spend time on other tasks. Other benefits include minimizing wear and tear and probability of accidents, as well as reducing insurance bills.

MyRouteOnline route planner has the advanced features that small businesses can use to their advantage.
These include the ability to:

Assign territories to balance the workload.

Plan any number of routes at once.

Set a maximum for route duration or number of stops to plan multiple routes.

Review routes with route animation.

Visit drop-off locations after matching with pick-up locations.

We can give your business a competitive edge even against the largest rivals.