The atmosphere of uncertainty is forcing people to come up with new technology for doing things very rapidly.
The health concerns in the world are isolating and socially distancing people.
The unprecedented arrival of the coronavirus in 2020 resulted in restaurants across the globe finding another way of ensuring they meet the customer’s demand.
Despite many countries disallowing congregations at restaurants, grocery stores, bars, and eateries, commodities supply had to be kept constant hence contactless delivery options had to come into play.
Contactless delivery has grown; therefore, it has become a necessity in the current market.
What is Contactless Delivery?
Contactless delivery is the act of delivering an order to its destination or the customer while ensuring limited contact or no contact at all between the customer and the delivery driver.
Most of the customers now are using online platforms to acquire their essentials.
Therefore, contactless delivery options from the best food delivery services are becoming the standard procedure of delivery in the online market.
Most people desire to have their orders delivered fast to their homesteads with minimal contact with the delivery driver.
How does Contactless Delivery Work?
There are different protocols which you need to implement to ensure contactless delivery works effectively.
Other companies employ various ways to offer contactless delivery.
Coming up with a website or mobile app for generating the delivery order is critical.
This website or mobile app becomes the interaction point between the customer and the supplier.
When you need contactless delivery, you visit the food delivery app or website of the companies.
The default payment method is usually set on the food delivery app or website.
Contactless payment is encouraged to reduce face-to-face interaction between customers and delivery drivers.
Instead, the system offers you an option to give delivery instructions on where the delivery order will be placed once delivered (e.g., at the doorstep, at the gate, at the front desk).
Once the order is successful, you receive a notification.
In addition, the company gets an SMS of the order that you have made.
When the order is received at the company, the items desired are prepared, and packaging is done.
When this is completed, the company sends you another SMS that your order is about to be delivered.
It also provides you with the estimated time to have the order at your desired point.
The delivery driver takes the order to the location in which you had selected.
The individual delivering the order informs you that your item has been delivered.
In some instances, pictures are taken to serve as proof of delivery.
The delivery driver sends the image to you and even the company responsible.
Most of these delivery drivers have delivery experience over the years.
At this point, you are allowed to collect your order, confirm the packaging and make acknowledgment remotely.
The Growth of Contactless Delivery in 2020 and 2021
The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically affected customers’ buying habits all over the globe.
In the United States, statistics revealed that 37 percent of individuals interviewed in May 2020 had used contact-free delivery.
Some emphasized that the lockdown and social distancing was the critical factor that had forced them with limited options for accessing their essentials.
E-commerce had been rising before the Coronavirus pandemic.
However, the number reveals that the pandemic has resulted in the growth of noticeable margins.
In 2019, eCommerce shares rose to 16 percent from 14.4% in 2018 and 13.2 percent in 2017.
A report by The Guardian in 2020 showed that food delivery rose by 8.7 percent while nonfood deliveries increased by 3.6 percent in Australia.
In Australia, Ikea, Big W, Kmart, UberEATS, and Woolworths were operating during lockdown by contactless delivery means.
In the United States, we have examples of postmates that offer food delivery services.
Doordash and Grubhub offer contactless food delivery in the U.S.A.
According to NewDaily 2020, Woolworths reported growth in deliveries of 10.3 percent while 9.9 percent in Big W compared to 2019.
All these companies offering contactless food delivery have made the supply chain easy.
The study by Mckinsey and Company in 2020 shows that China is forecasting 15-20 percent digital shopping.
In Italy, they increased their digital sales by 81 percent in the first week of a pandemic.
In addition, TechCrunch in 2020 noted that there were 160 percent of downloads in the Walmart food grocers app.
E-commerce is now on acceleration because so many countries across the globe are putting great emphasis on social distancing and banning gatherings in restaurants, groceries, bars, and eateries.
Many consumers are looking for the safest way of accessing the essentials hence the no-contact delivery.
The product which has been taking the lead in contactless delivery is fast food.
However, so many products are taking this trajectory due to increased awareness among consumers via social media.
Many companies are increasingly adopting delivery processes across the world.
There has been a trend of improvising this delivery process.
Companies have deployed fleets of delivery robots, while others encourage sending pictures once products have been delivered as proof of delivery.
A study that McKinsey conducted realized a 20 percent increase in consumer preference for contactless delivery.
There is also a relative increase in buy online and pick in the store.
The contactless delivery has also been boosted by using Exela’s Intelligent lockers, making sure the order delivered is safe from malicious people, rain, and wind.
Exela’s Intelligent lockers are ensuring that the order is not kept in an open place.
In addition, many companies are providing SMS to notify the customer once the order has been delivered.
The use of SMS is aiming at increasing the efficiency of no-contact delivery.
The companies have also adopted technology enabling them to monitor the quality of their products on consignment.
Examples of No Contact Delivery in Action
1. Uber Eats
UberEats arrived in the market in 2014, offering food delivery services.
It has had incredible growth in contactless delivery in the past years.
UberEats offers a delivery option for more than 20 countries.
It offers online ordering and delivery for food.
UberEats services are categorized into two; UberEats instant delivery and Full restaurant delivery.
If you are interested in UberEats products, you visit the UberEats food ordering app to select the preferred food and place an order.
You can set your delivery order with local restaurants from the UberEats app or website, and food is delivered to your doorstep at a delivery fee.
The UberEats pricing varies from one city to the other.
It does use surge pricing, which leads to higher rates.
2. Apple
Apple offers you a chance to shop online through their mobile app or website, then they give you contact-free delivery.
You can shop easily at Apple, the delivery options are very convenient to the customer, and they offer different pick-up methods.
In addition, they provide various contactless delivery options.
With Apple’s no contact delivery, sometimes verbal confirmation of receiving the product is required or even a signature to some crucial products as proof of delivery.
However, you can request not to sign after receiving the product; opting not to sign is done during online ordering of the product.
Furthermore, they offer two-day free delivery on iPhone, Apple TV, or Apple watch.
3. Papa Johns
They offer a contactless delivery option for products such as Pizza on delivery.
Online ordering is made via the website or mobile app, and contactless payment is made online.
With Papa John’s, the no-contact delivery usually drops the order at your door.
Papa Johns is in 47 countries across the globe.
Papa John’s controls 5199 establishments with 246 company-owned stores.
The contactless delivery can be made at their stores.
Then, the delivery driver thumbs on the door or rings the bell and steps back for you to collect your order.
There is no signing once delivery has been made.
Safety Measures
Despite the contactless delivery ensuring there is no face-to-face interaction between the customer and the delivery driver, there are still measures that need to be put in place to ensure delivery order is safe.
These are some of the actions which are being encouraged;
1. For Customers
Customers are being notified of the delivery via an SMS.
Although no contact delivery aids in reducing direct contact between delivery driver and customer, it increases the risk of the delivery order being stolen if the customer is not aware that delivery was made.
In 2020, it was reported that nearly 1 in 5 Americans were victims of package theft.
Many delivery agencies will SMS you once the order is delivered, either by SMS or email, to reduce this risk.
There is also ecommerce order tracking to track your order while being delivered, and you can know when the order arrives.
The SMS also explains delivery instructions for that delivery order.
Use of contactless payment.
Your website or food delivery app should have contactless payment procedures to ensure no cash exchange between the customer and delivery driver.
3. For delivery driver
As a result of the radical increase in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the delivery driver uses different measures to keep them safe and protect the customers.
Some of them include;
Delivery driver wear the PPE equipment while making the delivery
They ensure they are in proper face masks.
They wear gloves which are completely wristed.
Delivery drivers use hand sanitizer regularly while making the delivery.
They keep temperature checks often.
Make sure the delivery order is kept at the designated location.
Food creation and Packing
Food creation and packaging Is a very critical process in ensuring the safety of contactless delivery.
Some of the measures to ensure safety are;
Training chefs on No-Touch cooking procedures
The chefs’ training aims to ensure zero hand contact with foods once the food leaves the cooking point.
It involves making sure the handles of utensils do not come in connection with the foods.
The packaging of the food is made using utensils that can transfer food from the oven to containers.
Make use of suitable packaging containers.
Chefs can seal with ease without touching inside the containers.
You can use large containers, which makes packaging quite simple.
The stickers on the containers notify the customer of safe packaging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pay cash with no contact delivery?
Advancement through a mobile app that has contactless payments allows you to avoid cash payments.
Instead, you can use the mobile app to channel money from anywhere you want.
Does Uber Eat do no contact delivery?
Uber Eats offers contactless delivery options across the territory serving.
How do restaurants keep food safe when making it?
Restaurants ensure chefs do not contact food once from the oven and provide proper packaging containers.
Does a delivery person touch my doorbell when doing no-contact deliveries?
Delivery drivers mostly take the delivery order to where the customer instructs.
Touching the doorbell happens only with your instruction.
Wrapping Up
Contactless delivery is growing at a very high rate.
It is gaining influence on so many products across the globe.
The increased uncertainty on the spread of coronavirus pandemic waves is contributing to its expansion.
This service is convenient to the customer; businesses must be flexible enough to adopt the new changes
The market is developing to cashless payments, which is favorable for contactless delivery.
The safety of both customer and delivery personnel is among the most significant motives behind this form of delivery.
The purchasing behavior of most consumers has changed.
In the post-coronavirus world, the need for safer and improved contactless delivery will be in higher demand.
As a result, contactless delivery is becoming the norm in shopping.
