For most retailers, Cost Per Order is still measured as a transport metric. Procurement teams compare freight rates, delivery charges and fuel surcharges, then select the provider with the lowest apparent cost.
It’s an understandable approach. But it’s also one of the biggest reasons retailers continue to absorb unnecessary costs across the wider delivery experience.
The true cost of an order isn’t determined by the freight invoice. It’s determined by everything that happens because of that delivery.
Failed deliveries. Customer service calls. Redeliveries. Damage claims. Refunds. Manual exception management. Lost customers. Poor reviews. These costs rarely appear in the transport rate, but collectively they have a far greater impact on profitability.
That’s why ANC has made Cost Per Outcome the centre of its strategy. Rather than simply reducing transport costs, ANC focuses on lowering the total cost of every delivery through four connected pillars: Customer experience, technology, data and AI, and flexible network solutions.
The real cost of delivery starts after the truck leaves
ANC recently commissioned Inside Retail to survey 327 senior Australian retail logistics executives.
The findings were revealing:
- 71 per cent have experienced performance gaps with generalist providers handling complex freight.
- 56 per cent say fuel volatility is significantly compressing margins.
- More than half report that at least 25 per cent of customer complaints originate in the last mile.
- Retailers consistently say they need better data, predictable pricing, stronger technology and specialist expertise – not simply lower freight rates.
The message is clear: Retailers don’t improve margins by choosing the cheapest freight provider. They improve margins by choosing a delivery partner that lowers the total cost of serving every customer.
Customer experience is an operational efficiency strategy
Many organisations still separate customer experience from operations. ANC doesn’t.
Every poor delivery experience creates downstream operational cost. Customers complain, support teams have to manually resolve exceptions. Negative experiences reduce repeat purchases.
Research found the biggest delivery frustrations were poor customer communication (48 per cent), inconvenient delivery windows (45 per cent), lack of tracking (41 per cent) and no self-service rescheduling (40 per cent).
These aren’t problems solved by cheaper freight. They’re solved by better customer activation.
ANC’s self-service platform allows customers to choose delivery dates, manage deliveries and receive proactive communications throughout the journey. Giving customers greater control reduces delivery failures, lowers inbound enquiries and eliminates costly rework.
In fact, 89 per cent of ANC customers select their preferred delivery date within one hour, improving capacity planning while reducing customer frustration.
Better data creates better economics
Retailers have become highly sophisticated at analysing digital customer behaviour. Yet the physical delivery journey often remains surprisingly opaque.
With more than five million deliveries each year, ANC is building one of Australia’s richest datasets of property access information, delivery preferences and address characteristics.
Every delivery makes the network smarter. Insights such as apartment access, parking availability and safe drop locations improve first-time delivery success while reducing wasted driver time.
Technology should remove work, not create it
Manual exception management was identified as the biggest technology friction point by 54 per cent of retailers surveyed.
Every manually managed delivery issue adds labour cost. Every customer phone call creates additional workload.
ANC’s technology automates much of this work through customer self-service, real-time tracking, automated communications and seamless integration with client systems.
The result is fewer manual interventions, lower operating costs and higher productivity.
Network flexibility matters more than operational scale
Many logistics providers ask customers to fit their operating model. ANC configures the operating model around the customer.
Its Integrated Fulfilment Network combines dedicated fleets with shared multi-client networks, allowing retailers to choose the model that best suits their business, volume profile and growth ambitions.
That flexibility improves fleet utilisation, removes unnecessary overheads and enables growth without carrying excess operational cost.
Predictability is becoming as valuable as price
Research participants consistently rated pricing certainty as one of the most important partner selection criteria.
Fuel volatility continues to challenge retail planning, while diesel surcharges make delivery costs increasingly unpredictable.
ANC’s investment in one of Australia’s largest last-mile EV fleets reduces exposure to fuel price volatility while providing retailers with a scalable path to lower emissions – without increasing Cost Per Outcome.
The future of efficient delivery is Cost Per Outcome
The logistics industry has traditionally competed on moving freight more cheaply. Retail leaders increasingly understand that’s the wrong objective.
The goal isn’t the cheapest way of moving boxes from A to B. It’s the lowest total cost of serving every customer.
That requires customer-centric technology, better operational data, smarter use of AI, flexible network models and specialist expertise that actively reduce downstream costs rather than creating them.
That’s why ANC doesn’t describe itself simply as a logistics provider. It’s a Cost Per Outcome partner.
