Summary: The transport and logistics business has witnessed life-changing trends with its digital settling. There is a good market for developing the best logistics app development, flourishing transport businesses with time.

With such an app development idea, every fleet management business can undoubtedly run smoothly, from trucks to taxis. If you are someone looking for logistics app development companies, make a checklist of features, types, & costs related to your project with the help of this blog. Dive into it and collect all the necessary information to create an app for logistics.

Introduction

A dramatic shift in the eCommerce industry, smartphone usage, and internet connectivity resulted in the success of the logistics delivery app development industry because of its profitable benefits like an improved supply chain, transparent transportation, warehouse management, dispatch tracking, & more.

The overwhelming response to logistics software gave the transporting industry an organized business approach. According to recent statistics, there is a parallel growth in the transport industry and the on-demand logistics app development.

The global supply chain management market is expected to reach 31 billion U.S. dollars by 2026. With such tremendous growth, there is an assurance that the custom logistics mobile app development market will climb toward digital profitability.

“Digital logistics industry is backed with eCommerce trends & the instant needs of customers to get everything at their doorsteps”- Mike Davis (Sales Executive)

ECommerce & Its Role in Transforming the Logistics Industry

A decade ago, all these advancements were mere thoughts. The brewing indulgence of the internet has made brick & mortar services meet extreme ends. For the logistics industry, the software solutions managed to centralize the distribution centers resulting in timely deliveries for the eCommerce industry globally.

The boom of online shopping triggered the distribution channel & a business’s real-time storage capabilities. Apart from organizing the supply chain, it also created virtual stores, a new kind of distribution center. These small & mobile warehouses are designed to move products to customers’ homes quickly.

Imagine that you are a logistics head of a large corporation, responsible for delivering every product to its assigned destination. You will need logistics software development better to manage the distribution, drivers, & vehicles.

Withholding the responsibility of vehicles, you have to track their locations, schedule pickups, & thus, organize a workflow. You need to coordinate the exact timings with drivers and warehouses. An on-demand logistics app development will help your firm to manage deliveries and grow with flexibility and scalability.

Depending upon the current scalability of your company, you can analyze your software requirements. One also has to look into the solution’s futuristic goals related to the overall business growth. 

With the best logistics app development, custom-made for your business, you can improve communication and increase efficiency & efficacy in customer service. It also helps in creating effective workflows for optimized performance.

Thus, it would help if you channeled the eCommerce boost for your business. 

Now, without doing further due, let’s dive into the types of logistics apps and features of logistics app development. 

Types of Best Logistics App Development

Logistics software development is addressing a significant shift from cloud-based to mobile solutions. It is because of the active usage of mobile users, especially the younger generation. They are tech-savvy, expect new feature updates, and want access to things at their doorsteps. 

Here are different kinds of transportation app developments:-

• Fleet management app

As the name suggests, this transport software is mainly made to store and process data concerning transport and fleets. Thus, it helps operate and control via a centrally-located information system, boosting the supply chain processes. 

• Real-time logistics management app

It manages tasks and controls logistics in real-time, from managing individual employee tasks to communicating with them to complete responsible tasks. One can include many other functionalities like tracking vehicles, managing invoices, and attending.  

• Fleet routing software

For efficiently transporting goods, a series of algorithms and programs are used by logistics app development companies. This model explicitly accepts real-life fleet data about routes and deliveries, then generates a digital output for each piece of data.

• Supply chain management software

Such a custom logistics development works as an Enterprise Resource Planning software to manage supply chains. The internal and external supply chains are often driven to reduce costs and waste. It benefits the companies working in the same SCM can collaborate on product planning and logistics.

For external management, the SCM manages a company’s supply chain from suppliers’ and distributors’ viewpoints. 

It tracks and maintains all the supplies happening in various orders and gives the company excellent insight into its potential growth. The software provides a graph representation of the current data to build an algorithm for the future state of the firm.

See Also: Inventory Management Software Trends

• Asset tracking and management software

If you own a logistics business that tracks shipment products and monitors inventory levels, then an asset tracker is designed for you. It consists of barcode scanners, GPS, or other comparable technology to track the whereabouts of goods or shipments. It helps a business to keep track of inventory, monitor purchasing costs, and optimize the supply chain. The software is convenient for firms that rely on third-party suppliers, 3PL, to deliver stocks on time. 

• Artificial & Augmented Intelligence technology.

Such technological integration allows a program or computer system to make decisions and take actions based on logical reasoning. It provides automated customer service chatbots and predictive analytics & helps in improving the way companies deliver products and services to customers. These advancements are mainly used to improve operations, cut costs, and increase efficiency. 

• Blockchain technology

Decentralization of the data helps in maintaining and recording transactions through peer-to-peer networks. It simply means the data is hosted in multiple computers, or nodes, with the help of the same software. As the database is distributed across the network, it is accessed easily by all the participants.

There is no middleman hassle for transactions needed if you opt for blockchain development. Your logistics business will be able to track distributed ledgers of goods at every location, resulting in managing and resolving supply chain issues in time. This will gradually decrease drivers’ time on the road, reducing traffic congestion.

• Warehouse solution

This software solution is equally essential for a successful transport and logistics business. It maintains a vast load of data on the goods stored in a separate warehouse. The concerned person can quickly look into its products category-wise and manage the stocks beforehand for timely deliverables. 

• Cross-platform app development

Such an application is the need of the hour. The modern market offers an excellent framework for cross-platform app development- Flutter. With Flutter app development, you can make an application from a single script. It supports other operating systems and allows a reduction in costs without any quality compromise. 

CTA: Want to develop a logistics app? Discuss your idea.

Subtext: Let’s work together & create a successful online venture for your business. Connect with our experienced team of developers for your project.

Button text: Get a free quote

Approach the Best Logistics App Development Companies with These Necessary Features

Features For A Fleet Manager Or Admin

#1 Integration of maps: This feature is at the core of every logistics application. Google maps are revolutionary for tracking various vehicles and monitoring the overall fleet’s move. It enables the admin to track drivers and collaborate with them in real-time. It assures real-time delivery with the product’s security.

#2 Fleet management: It helps a fleet manager to direct drivers to reach alternative routes and notify the change in delivery locations. Fleet management enables the admin department to take timely actions on workable inputs to provide the end user with seamless product delivery.

#3 Dashboard: The dashboard represents all the activities, from checking the orders’ status to controlling the entire process. It lets the admin stay connected with the customers to resolve all quick queries. 

#4 Push notification: The push notification feature helps gain online trust. Admin can send information to a concerned user or driver regarding order status, invoice, driver allotment, etc.

#5 M2M communication: Mobile-to-mobile communication enables the admin to monitor the vehicle’s health anywhere in the world. It keeps the fleet managers updated about the vehicle’s condition & maintenance requirements.    

#6 Analytics & Multilanguage support: An intuitive analytical report is generated in the logistics app, which is easy to understand. The application also is built with multiple languages for supporting a manager or admin in their comforting user language. 

Features for Customers

#1 Login/Signup: This process needs to be simple & straightforward. The signup should include personalized information like email, address, name, etc.

#2 Payment gateway integration: Allow the app users to make payments through a trusted gateway like PayPal, Stripe, etc. A seamless transaction is appreciated by the customers resulting in a loyal following.

#3 Order tracking: Real-time tracking enables customers to know the whereabouts of their orders. It helps build online trust and a sense of security towards the brand.

#4 Feedback & ratings: Customers like to give feedback after getting their deliveries. As an online brand, you will also get your feedback & implement suggestions for improving their customer services.

#5 In-app chat: A chatbot integration ensures easy query resolution. It is constant support for users to ask about their orders or other material-related information. It can also be used to help a driver know their location.

#6 Social media integration: Connecting with the mass is very important to ace the digital world. Through social media platforms, you will get indirect marketing from your customers, and they will get easy access to share promo codes or other advertised stuff with their friends & family. 

Features For Drivers

#1 Registration: Make driver registration easy by simple signup or social media integration.

#2 Order management: Allow the driver to get information about the destination and other order-related details.

#3 Route tracking: GPS technology helps a driver reach a customer on time through a shorter route & deliver the order effectively.

#4 In-app chat: It enables the drivers to communicate seamlessly with the admin when needed. 

Note: Those mentioned above are some of the minimalistic features used to build a compact logistics and transport application. You can alter these features & integrate technological advancements as per your budget and your logistics app development company’s expertise.

Our Contribution to the Custom Logistics App Development Genre

The experienced team of logistics app developers worked on a courier delivery app- Zroom. The on-demand delivery app provides the convenience of scheduling deliveries at a particular time and date.

It also provides features like same-day delivery for the urgent need of delivery. In this app, the user will get the confirmation by the recipient’s digital signature to ensure that the package is delivered correctly and to ensure the delivery.

Thus, our team of app developers ensured the best UI/UX and safety measures for the business and its online users. Being in the IT industry and among the top software developers in India, we have created projects for many niches. So, our proficient team does know their dedicated role to play in a software or application’s success.

The Takeaway:  Designing and constructing with a mobile-first attitude will significantly benefit you if you develop software and applications in this field. To appeal to a broad user base, your app should be simple, intuitive, and have a low learning curve.

Additionally, if you can develop something that can be used offline—for those unavoidable situations where vehicles go beyond the service provider’s coverage area—it could distinguish your solution from your rivals.

CTA: Want to discuss your app idea with our experts? Get a free quote.

Subtext: WebMobTech has been in the digital industry, conquering niches with its experienced tech brains for a decade. We are here to ensure your digital success too.

Button text: Consult our experts

Cost to Develop the Best Logistics App with an Experienced Software Development Company

There are many cost-affecting factors in developing a logistics software solution. Let’s discuss some significant reasons for the vast difference in app development.

• Software development vendor

There are many flexible hiring models to select from for your project. Freelancers, in-house teams, & outsourcing companies are some of the most popular developing vendors.  

Depending on your budget, you will have to make a wise decision. Freelancers are cost-efficient. But with logistics, one requires competence and experience to establish complex peculiarities within the software architecture. One has to test their expertise and face other issues like prepayment, cultural differences, time zone, etc.

If you opt for an in-house development team, you must have a budget for sanctioning every expert for your project. It is a highly-accessible option that comes with an extra investment. You will have specialists with a tech-savvy partnership covering expenses like sick leaves, vacation, hardware, software purchases, etc.

The last and most preferred option is outsourcing a project. An outsourcing software development partnership comes with a lot of perks. The app development company you partner with provides a project manager who coordinates with you in your time zone, an experienced team, and a work portfolio to look at for trustworthy long-distance business. They have flexible hiring models for developers & do communicate through weekly meetings to keep you in the loop of your software development.

Below you will find the global average hourly rates of transport and logistics app development:-

• Platform & Tech Stack

The cost of developing an application depends on what platform you are aiming to deploy your application on and which tech stack you will integrate within your application. The tech stack varies with web and mobile development. Let’s have a look at the best frameworks for your software.

Best Tech Stack for Logistics App Development

React.js for Frontend: Its component base is among the most popular technologies. It creates reusable UI components, which also increase the time efficiency of logistics apps.

Node.js for backend: The JavaScript environment provides the best technology for server-side large-scale apps. It allows fastening of a server’s response and maintains many operations on the browser’s side.

Flutter: Being a cross-platform solution, it will easily allow your logistics app to perform with a single codebase on all platforms. So you will obtain a cost-effective solution in no time and compete with your competitors at an incredible pace.

Thus, it is highly significant to remember that logistics app development cost varies on factors like the type of software, features to implement, number of operating systems you want to integrate, etc. Therefore to create the best transport software, you will need a proficient business analyst to provide a well-calculated project budget with all the requirements and business goals at its core.

WebMobTech: Your Reliable Partner

WebMob Technologies is a software development company in India with over a decade of digital experience building custom web and mobile app solutions. 

What WebMobTech offers to its partners:-

• Transparent communication for a successful project
• Rapid software development and a timely deployment
• Proficient, experienced team of developers with quality in developing native apps, cross-platform app development, etc.
• Quality assurance with agile development methodologies
• Flexible hiring models of our developers as per your budget

Our team of developers is an expert in developing supply management systems, ERP, and other online logistics systems for your successful fleet management. Consult us and get a free quote for your solution development.