What is delivery route planning?

Delivery route planning is the process that is followed to plan the route that delivery drivers should follow when carrying out a delivery run. The route must have a starting point and an ending point. During route planning, you may consider factors such as weather, traffic conditions and the time it will take to complete the route. Delivery route planning helps to improve efficiency and reduces the risk of running into road works or bad traffic that could have been avoided by planning a route in advance.

Why are florists still planning delivery routes by hand?

The majority of the industry has adopted automated solutions to streamline processes, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. But, in most cases, these innovations have been adopted gradually. Florists who plan detailed routes by hand are often stuck using outdated software, laborious manual processes, or both simultaneously. Most florists have no control over improving this process. Today, there are many software tools available to automate delivery route planning, however, when you speak to florists, you may find that they find existing tools too cumbersome to use, with a lot of data entry required, which means that simply printing the route and guessing the best route could be the best approach with their workflow, which is bad for efficiency and the environment.

How does route planning software work?

Route planning software is designed to automate the generation of the most efficient route, taking into account many factors, but the main ones could be traffic, the time of day, reducing the amount of time within a vehicle, etc. The software can then visualise the route, showing the best route to complete every delivery. This information can significantly help with saving time, fuel and especially during times of high demand, such as Christmas, Valentine's or Mothers Day, make one of the previously most frustrating parts of delivering your products, something that you don't even need to think about.

What makes for a good delivery route planner?

There are a number of factors that indicate whether a delivery route planner is worth your time and investment. First and foremost, the software must be easy to use. Such software should be intuitive and require minimal setup and training to use. Another important factor is the level of service and support provided by the software provider. With Digital Florists, we have a simple interface that just requires you to select a date, choose the orders you want to include in a delivery run, and press a button, and it will automatically calculate the best route for your drivers to take, and immediately be available on their phone, and at that point, they can send a notification to customers stating their order is out for delivery.

Conclusion

One of the most frustrating parts of running a flower business is planning your routes. Although it sounds simple, it can be complicated if you don’t know where to start. Fortunately, there are many technologies available to help you map out your delivery routes, such as Digital Florists.