Shippit launches AI platform to help retailers close delivery gap

Shippit has announced that it is making its Shippit Intelligence platform available to retailers across Australia and New Zealand, aiming to address significant delivery challenges in the sector.

Shippit Intelligence, which has been developed using more than a decade of real-world parcel movement data, provides retailers with new logistics tools to compete with major global players. As pressure grows on local retailers to match the post-purchase experience standards set by companies like Amazon, Shippit is offering its proprietary AI-powered operating system to help close what it calls the 'delivery gap'.

Industry delivery challenge

The logistics gap between local retailers and global companies is identified by Shippit as a "silent killer" of sales and market share. The company points to data showing nearly 90% of Australian consumers abandon their online shopping carts prior to checkout. This results in more than AUD $18 billion in lost sales every year, driven not by price or product differences but by a lack of transparent, flexible delivery options at the point of purchase.

Customer expectations are increasingly focused on choice-such as speed, cost, and specific delivery timing. When these preferences are not met at checkout, shoppers often abandon their purchases. Shippit notes that although the average actual delivery time is 1.7 days, retailers typically list much longer delivery windows of around 5.2 days, leading to a gap between promise and performance that erodes consumer trust.

Retailer consequences

The current gap in service has a direct impact on consumer trust and the likelihood of repeat business, challenging the long-term growth prospects of domestic retailers. The issue is compounded by the fact that global retailers have invested heavily in logistics infrastructure, achieving a level of precision and reliability that is difficult for most local businesses to replicate without access to similar tools and intelligence. Shippit Intelligence seeks to help local retailers bridge this gap and retain more customers at the crucial checkout phase.

"Delivery is the new battleground of retail," said Rob Hango-Zada, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of Shippit. "Too often, retailers spend big to win customers, only to lose them at checkout. Shippit Intelligence flips that by making logistics a true competitive advantage. We've already seen the results with Petbarn, where customers who choose on-demand delivery spend 3.5 times more and shop 35% more often. When retailers treat delivery as a growth driver, not a cost centre, that's when they get ahead."

Key platform features

Shippit Intelligence delivers support to retailers across four main stages of the delivery process. In planning, its AI-powered simulation analyses historical carrier performance data to optimise carrier mix and reduce fulfilment errors, particularly during peak trading periods. For promising, the platform provides hyper-accurate estimated delivery dates at checkout using data from millions of deliveries, a transparency that Shippit says can boost conversion rates by up to 9% and potentially unlock millions in additional revenue for participating retailers.

When it comes to orchestration, the NowGo component of Shippit Intelligence enables dispatchers to re-optimise delivery routes in real time, taking into account a variety of operational factors such as vehicle types, capacities, priorities, and specific delivery windows. This functionality has resulted in a reported 15% improvement in fleet utilisation and higher on-time delivery rates. The company claims that this reduces wasted resources and operational complexity.

For the delivery stage, Shippit Intelligence utilises AI agents to address "where is my order?" queries instantly and at all hours. By automating these inquiries, retailers can reduce the volume of customer service requests, lower support costs, and foster greater trust among their customers by providing quicker resolutions to their delivery issues.

Looking ahead

In bringing Shippit Intelligence to a broader segment of the retail market, Shippit states that it is aiming to provide domestic retailers with the same technological resources and customer insights as those available to the largest international companies. The company asserts that use of these tools enables local businesses to compete more effectively on delivery performance and customer service, addressing fundamental challenges that have persisted in the region for years.