Technology, customer focus and carrier collaborations, see the hot topics from #NDC17 here

10th May 2017

Speakers from the e-commerce, technology and transport industry gave their input to what competitive delivery entails at this year’s Nordic Delivery Conference. Get an overview of what happened at #NDC17 here.

On the 4^th of May, Consignor hosted the Nordic Delivery Conference third year in a row, and Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center acted as the setting for a day of inspiration and networking. Speakers inspired the 700 participants to how they could improve delivery in their business. While the conference’s 50 exhibitors provided plenty of opportunities to expand the participants’ customer and partner networks.

Be nicer to your carrier. This was the message from the day’s panel debate and James Doyle from Marks & Spencer, which was well received by the audience:

“The carrier is the only human contact your customer meets in the delivery process. It is therefore important that you are nice to your carrier, in order for them to feel like they are a part of your brand and deliver a good customer experience,” emphasized James Doyle in his own presentation and in the panel debate, where the panelists’ Palle Esenbensen from Coop.dk, Andreas Thimour from Zimply Solved and Anton Hagberg from Komplett.no, backed him up.

The panel disagreed on the topic of the number of delivery options, where Palle Esenbensen was advocating for multiple delivery options, were Andreas Thimour and James Doyle of another opinion and believed that fewer and more transparent delivery options were more important. However, all agreed that the customer focus should always be in the center of the strategic and practical choices, a company makes in relation to e-commerce and delivery.

Mike Walsh on stage at #NDC17.

The customer focus was also a part of the presentations of both Anton Hagberg from Komplett.no and Mike Walsh from Tomorrow. “Customers only want to shop one place, when shopping online. Therefore, the future growth in e-commerce will happen at online marketplaces, ” said Anton Hagberg, as he explained why Komplett.no is currently transforming from a traditional online shop to an online marketplace like Amazon. Mike Walsh focused more on how you, as a business, put the customer focus in the center by asking the right questions: Who are your customers and what do they want? That way you always force yourself to innovate your products and services in relation to the customers’ development.

Read more: Komplett: How we become the Amazon of the Nordics here

Tracking and sustainable energy were also hot topics at the conference, which Tesla, Samsung and Dachser each had their input to.

More tracking in the future’s sustainable truck

“We call it the connected auto,” said Claus Holm from Samsung Technologies about the small Samsung device, which is placed in the truck and collects data about the load and driving. The device can, among other things, improve tracking and provide a basis for more economical driving. Claus Holm showed several interesting technologies for the future’s trucks that can increase safety and efficiency, including cameras on trucks, tracking beacons on parcels, and Augmented Reality glasses that can be used for repairs.

Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen told abot Tesla’s sustainable mission at #NDC17.

The vehicles of the future will also be electric and self-driving, according to Tesla, who in the autumn of 2017 present their first electric truck. Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen revealed, how Tesla vehicles in the future will maintain themselves by telling when maintenance is needed, and automatically drive to a service shop when needed, while the owner of the car is at work. “The owner must be able to earn money on his Tesla car through sharing economy. That way everyone can afford a Tesla. That is sustainable, ” said Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen.

Sustainability was also a topic at Stefan Hohm from Dachser, who described how Dachser streamlines delivery in big cities through their City Distribution project group. The group analyzes big cities, in order to develop the best toolbox with tools for efficient delivery for the city in question, as all big cities are different. The tools includes: sustainable delivery with micro hubs, night delivery, implementation of new energies and technologies.

Read more: City distribution: an increasing challenge for logistic providers here

This #NDC17 summary will be a part of a series of articles about the speakers and topics at Nordic Delivery Conference 2017, where we subsequently unfold the speakers ‘presentation, giving you a more detailed insight into the presentations’ messages.

Facts:

The software company Consignor organizes and hosts Nordic Delivery Conference.
The speaker list at Nordic Delivery Conference 2017 included Mike Walsh from Tomorrow, Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen from Tesla, Stefan Hohm from Dachser, Anton Hagberg from Komplett.no, Claus Holm from Samsung and James Doyle from Marks & Spencer.
700 participants from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, Romania, China, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Spain, United States and Great Britain participated in #NDC17.
50 exhibitors from the e-commerce, logistics and transport industry exhibited at #NDC17.
Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center in Copenhagen acted as the setting for #NDC17 for third year in a row.