U.S. parcel volumes have reached 22.4 billion shipments in 2024, and customer expectations continue to rise alongside that growth. Shoppers want more choice in how and when their orders arrive.
To meet these expectations, many retail shippers have moved toward hybrid delivery networks, blending their own fleets with a mix of regional and local partners.
This approach offers flexibility, but it also creates a high volume of delivery decisions every day. When those decisions are spread across disconnected systems and teams, consistency starts to break down quickly.
This complexity is why last-mile orchestration is now a strategic priority.
Why Last-Mile Delivery Orchestration is a High-Priority in 2026
Customer experience is increasingly defined by delivery choice
Gartner research shows that improving customer experience through expanded delivery options is the top logistics priority for the next five years. For retail shippers, this means supporting multiple promises at once—such as same-day, scheduled windows, sustainability options, and post-checkout changes—each with different cost, capacity, and service requirements.
Meeting those expectations requires hybrid delivery networks
Supporting a range of delivery options requires multiple delivery models. Retailers now operate more than just their own delivery fleets, often working alongside regional carriers, local couriers, gig platforms, and national providers. As parcel volumes grow and smaller carriers take on more deliveries, hybrid delivery has become a standard operating model.
Decision-making is now the main scaling challenge
Most last-mile systems can handle more volume, but coordinating delivery decisions across multiple partners is harder to sustain. Assignment, pricing, service-level, and exception decisions often live across disconnected tools. Over time, this increases operational strain and makes performance harder to control.
Retailers are prioritizing orchestration platforms that reduce fragmentation
As delivery decisions grow in volume and complexity, retail shippers are rethinking how those decisions are managed. Orchestration platforms help apply delivery logic consistently across private fleets and external partners,without adding more isolated tools for individual delivery models.
What Retail Shippers Should Prioritize in Last-Mile Orchestration
Retail shippers should prioritize last-mile software with orchestration capabilities for consistent delivery decisions across private fleets and external partners.
1. Integration That Supports Day-to-Day Execution
Retail shippers should prioritize platforms with pre-built integrations and an API that supports deep, stable connections to their systems and courier partners.
That means more than sending orders and receiving tracking events—it includes the operational details teams rely on every day, like service levels, pricing, proof of delivery requirements, exception reasons, and status mapping, connected all in one platform.
2. Real-Time Capacity for Smarter Delivery Assignment
Delivery decisions are only as good as the capacity data behind them. Scheduled or assumed capacity quickly falls out of sync with what’s actually available.
Orchestration platforms should account for real-time capacity by location, time window, and partner. This helps teams make assignment decisions based on current conditions, reducing failed handoffs, late deliveries, and last-minute rework—especially during peak periods.
3. Cost Consideration Built Into Delivery Decisions
Delivery costs often increase gradually when pricing decisions live outside routing and assignment logic.
Retail shippers should prioritize orchestration capabilities that evaluate cost alongside service requirements at the moment decisions are made. This helps teams maintain cost discipline while still meeting customer promises, without having to manage pricing logic separately.
4. Service-Level Handling Within a Single Workflow
Different deliveries carry different requirements. Time-sensitive orders, bulky items, regulated goods, and routine replenishment don’t need the same treatment.
Orchestration platforms should support this variation within one system, allowing teams to apply different rules and handling requirements without creating parallel processes or tools. This keeps operations simpler as delivery mix evolves.
5. Accurate Customer Updates During Delivery
A recent Gartner consumer survey shows that 44% of consumers prefer on-time delivery, compared to 38% who prefer early delivery. This reinforces the importance of accuracy in delivery communication.
Delivery options, tracking updates, and delivery changes should reflect what’s actually happening on the ground. Retail shippers should prioritize platforms that manage customer updates in one place, so communication stays consistent whether an order is fulfilled by an in-house fleet or an external delivery partner.
6. AI-Powered Automation For Delivery Execution
As delivery decision volume increases, execution becomes harder to keep in sync as conditions change throughout the day. Routing plans, assignments, and customer updates need to adjust as capacity shifts or exceptions occur.
Retail shippers should prioritize AI-powered automation for routing, auto-dispatch, and customer notifications, so delivery execution can adapt continuously without introducing delays or inconsistency.
7. Time to Value That Matches Operational Reality
Implementation timelines matter. Platforms that take months to deploy can struggle to keep up with changing delivery conditions.
Orchestration solutions that go live quickly allow teams to learn from real operations and adjust delivery logic as networks evolve. Speed to value often reflects how well a platform fits real-world workflows.
How Retail Shippers Run Hybrid Delivery with Onfleet
Retail shippers use Onfleet to manage hybrid delivery networks without adding more tools or manual work:
- End-to-end visibility across private fleets and external delivery partners
- Consistent customer updates that reflect what’s actually happening on the road
- AI-powered routing and dispatch to handle high decision volume as conditions change
- Unified Performance & Analytics across fleets and delivery partners, with clear insight into delivery performance, costs, and savings
Onfleet helps keep delivery execution, customer experience, and day-to-day operations connected as networks grow more complex.
FAQs: Last-Mile Delivery Orchestration
What is last-mile delivery orchestration?Last-mile delivery orchestration helps teams coordinate delivery decisions across fleets, partners, and systems, so routing, capacity, and customer promises stay aligned as conditions change.
What problems does last mile deliver orchestration solve for retail shippers?Last-mile delivery orchestration helps reduce fragmentation, improve consistency, and manage the growing volume of delivery decisions created by hybrid delivery networks.
How can retail shippers get visibility across multiple delivery providers?Retail shippers get visibility by using last-mile software that brings deliveries from all fleets and partners into one place, with real-time tracking, status updates, and performance reporting.