By Mahday Saad al-Hebabi
There’s been a huge shift in the way that businesses operate and how they have had to respond to drastically changing consumer behaviour over the last twelve months.
Trends for e-commerce and delivery services, for example, have leapfrogged over entire stages of development as the effects of the pandemic have rolled out across the globe. Websites worldwide generated nearly 22 billion visits in June 2020, up from 16 billion just 6 months prior.
In Qatar, Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) figures show that the e-commerce sector is expected to grow from QR4.7 billion this year to QR12 billion by 2022.
As a result, the transport and logistics industry has become a lifeline for many and meant that those self-isolating can receive their essential items. But it also signifies a big opportunity for those organisations that have had to close their doors or pivot their business model in response to safety measures or consumer demand, and home delivery services have provided new ways to keep operating.
Playing the long game by acting now
Due to the ongoing disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, savvy business owners are now looking for long-term security and to leverage new market opportunities via technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Our Middle East IoT Barometer Report showed that 34% of surveyed businesses in the region have already adopted IoT solutions, with 61% of those using it to optimise the use of assets and 59% to reduce operating costs and automate processes.
A key part to achieving this lies in fleet management. Perhaps, you’re a restaurant that now delivers, or a courier company hiring new drivers to meet new demand. You’ve managed to react and adapt in the short term, but now it’s time to make the most of the technologies and solutions that will help you build on this momentum.
Keeping your vehicles moving is an important concern for you and your business as well as employee safety and effective job allocation to make operations more efficient. Digital fleet management solutions can help you keep on top of all of this by giving you a holistic, real-time view of your vehicles at the click of a button.
These solutions can be applied across a variety of businesses in a whole range of sectors, including car rental and leasing, utilities and field maintenance, construction and retail. Investments in fleet management can benefit customers, too, by enabling faster response times and service delivery through more efficient task allocation and job assignment, for instance. Furthermore, businesses can lower their fuel costs due to shorter journeys, increase their revenue as drivers will complete more jobs in a quicker timeframe and can create a better customer experience thanks to route optimisation and the faster lead times as a result.
Fleet management in reality
We’ve recently unveiled our enhanced Internet of Things (IoT) Fleet Management solution, which enables businesses to optimise customer services, increase operational efficiencies and reduce costs using a single platform, all by delivering real-time information such as traffic data, vehicle location, fuel consumption, vehicle status and employee work-time.
We know that implementing new technologies can be daunting and can often be a reactive move rather than a proactive, strategic decision. Our aim is to make the selection and adoption of IoT solutions easier, more accessible, and affordable for all businesses.
Our next-generation Fleet Management solution, underpinned by our strongest ever GigaNet network, means that businesses can leverage new technologies and digitally transform their operations whilst building customer trust.
To find out more about Vodafone Qatar’s IoT Fleet Management solution, please visit: https://www.vodafone.qa/en/business/services/iot/
fleet-management
? The writer is Business Services Director, Vodafone Qatar
Mahday Saad al-Hebabi
