Delivery and logistics themes for 2025: Data, personalization, and AI

No industry stands still. Over the years, the delivery and logistics space has continuously evolved in reaction to or in anticipation of emerging economic, technological, and consumer trends. As we look ahead to the rest of 2025, this is set to continue. 

With consumers demanding more delivery options, greater personalization, robust sustainability credentials, and more, it’s essential that organizations craft a delivery strategy for 2025 that anticipates customer behavior and desires to help them stay ahead of the competition.

Here are a few delivery trends worth exploring in the coming year:

More variety

Recently, Mollie conducted research involving 10,000 consumers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom who made an online purchase in the past month and found that 68% value the availability of diverse delivery options on checkout, such as click-and-collect or home delivery.

In 2025, it’s essential that e-commerce firms offer their customers a wide range of options, such as PickUp and DropOff (PUDO) locations, Automated Parcel Machines (APMs) or Click & Collect offerings.

Multiple carriers

Released late last year, Retail Report: Carrier Diversification Tops 2024 Shipping Fulfillment Goals reveals just how important many retailers view a multi-carrier approach. As many as 73% of survey respondents said that relying solely on their internal fleet made meeting demand spikes difficult, while 67% claimed their limited delivery network was resulting in reduced sales.

By partnering with multiple carriers, e-commerce firms can provide consumers with a variety of delivery options, reduce risk, and improve delivery times. What’s more, by focusing on local carriers in the different markets they operate in, businesses will gain a better understanding of the precise consumer demands in those markets.

Data-driven decisions

Data is being created at an unbelievable rate, so any business that can leverage it to generate cutting-edge insights stands to put itself at a competitive advantage. Data can be used to optimize delivery networks by being applied to any number of metrics – from monitoring delivery times to measuring carbon emissions. And with 90% of consumers asking to track their orders, data is essential. 

The most forward-thinking delivery providers are even using data alongside artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline their services further. AI is being used by some brands to provide more accurate delivery estimates, automate customer services, and even reduce instances of parcel theft. The technology is only likely to be adopted by more and more delivery firms too, with the market for AI-enabled last-mile delivery expected to reach a value of $15.08 billion by 2037.

Ultimately, data can be used by delivery and logistics firms to make more informed decisions. Solutions like Paazl ‘s Data Dashboards are designed to provide organizations with insights into shipping volumes, comparisons, tracking and carrier performance. They are designed to be clear, customizable, and intuitive. With so much shipping data being created (unsurprising, given that the most recent estimate found there were over 161 billion parcels shipped in a single year worldwide) brands need to be careful they don’t become overwhelmed with the amount of information at their fingertips. Tools like Paazl’s data dashboards reduce the risk of this happening by focusing on turning the most relevant shipping data into valuable insights.

Social shopping

Social media has long been an ubiquitous presence in many shoppers’ lives, but it is increasingly used for online shopping itself. For instance, a recent survey by global consumers found that 73% of people are now actively shopping on social platforms. Looking at consumer behavior in greater detail, the rise of social shopping is even more pronounced, with 91% of consumers now preferring to buy their cosmetics through social media and 81% now shopping for clothes on social platforms. 

Social networks have been quick to respond to this trend by offering direct channels for shoppers to make purchases. For instance, TikTok now offers a Shop tab for browsing products, creator-tagged purchases, an affiliate program, and a secure checkout. Other social networks have implemented similar social shopping features, including Facebook and Instagram.

Sustainable delivery solutions

Sustainability is being prioritized across a range of industries – and logistics is no exception. Studies show that a majority of shoppers are interested in sustainable delivery options, with many stating that they would be willing to pay extra for a more environmentally friendly service. With that in mind, it’s important for organizations to make their sustainability credentials clear for shoppers.

In 2025, logistics and delivery providers can lower their carbon footprints in a number of ways, including route optimization, using fuel-efficient vehicles, opting for eco-friendly packaging materials, and cutting down on the number of failed deliveries. Whatever method businesses choose, they should be sure to shout about it as it could be the difference between a shopper clicking buy or not. 

The future of returns

No matter how good the e-commerce experience is, some level of returns is inevitable. In the UK, for example, an estimated one in five parcels are returned. This means wasted resources for the retailer, more carbon emissions, and potentially increased frustrations for the customer. But it doesn’t have to be this way, as it’s possible for brands to turn their reverse logistics into a competitive advantage.

By offering a flexible, consumer-centric returns policy, brands can improve customer satisfaction, lower costs, and enhance their reputation. Leverage data to monitor the performance of your reverse logistics, including metrics like return rates, processing times, and cost per return.

Personalized delivery experiences

The modern customer expects personalization and this certainly extends to the delivery experience. In fact, Forbes has found that 81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience. This means having a clear understanding of their likes, dislikes, and previous interactions with the company. 

For delivery and logistics teams, look to tailor the experience for individual customers, including flexible delivery windows and real-time tracking updates based on customer input. AI could again have a role to play here, being used to accurately predict consumer preferences. 

Nominated day

Nominated day delivery allows customers to select a specific delivery date in future. There are many benefits to using Nominated Day delivery including:
The ability to spread out the number of orders that need to be picked & packed in your warehouse operations over an extended period, reducing peaks in warehouse pressure.

Allowing consumers to be in control of when and how their package will be delivered, increasing the first-time delivery hit-rate

Offering only next-day delivery can lead to a peak of weekend orders on Mondays. By using the Nominated Day feature, your customers can select Saturday as a delivery day, resulting in more orders to be shipped on Friday where you likely have the lowest amount of orders to process.

This can lead to costs-reductions, as you reduce the need for expensive temporary labour on peak days. In doing so, you not only help your warehouse operations, but also your customer service department as your WISMO calls are spread out over the week as well.

With the nominated day option in the Paazl checkout, consumers will be be presented with a selection of exact dates, and they will then be able to select a date from this selection. See the image below.

For more information on Paazl’s products and services, including nominated day delivery, please visit https://www.paazl.com/nl/laten-we-praten/

Meeting delivery expectations in 2025

While new trends may continually come and go, one thing has remained constant for several years now: the delivery experience is fundamental to conversion. As we look ahead to the rest of 2025, consumers are demanding more choice, more personalization, and more sustainable delivery options. If businesses can get those things right, they’ll be rewarded with more sales.

In an increasingly competitive market for delivery and logistic solutions, Paazl provides an all-in-one platform that promises to manage every aspect of quality delivery, from webshop and warehouse to track & trace and returns. At the same time, our data analytics module helps you understand your customers’ preferences and your carriers’ performance. This means you can verify and validate the impact of the above trends on your delivery strategy. 

Don’t just jump on the latest bandwagon. With Paazl, you can make sure the latest trends truly impact the delivery experience you offer shoppers.