How to Revolutionise Food delivery with mobile data capture in 2025

In 2025, we expect to see five principal concerns drive delivery transformation in the food and drink industry:

• Optimising routes to reduce operational overheads and improve delivery rates.
• Preventing disputes using real-time proof of delivery and geo-location data.
• Enhancing traceability from the manufacturing facility to the customer's door, and tracking high value assets like trolleys and cages.
• Improving temperature control management to prevent wastage and proving high standards of handling.
• Improving communication from depot to customer.

Delivery experience is integral to great customer experience

As many supply management teams will tell you, delivery is the most critical part of the supply chain because it directly affects the customer's experience – be they an individual customer at home, or wholesaler or retailer.

There are multiple ways in which the delivery experience can influence customer satisfaction. Customers want reassurance high standards are employed in terms of how their food orders are handled and transported. They expect products to arrive in good condition, including undamaged packaging, and freshness. Customers also want to be kept in the loop with real-time delivery communications and accurate estimates on times of arrival.   

In short, if the delivery experience, doesn’t match the sales experience, or live up to the promises that have been set, then it can lead to significant brand damage.

Meeting high expectations with mobile computing solutions

To meet these varied and high expectations, many businesses are turning to mobile computing solutions to streamline and optimise their end-to-end delivery operations, and create a digital record of what happened, when and where.  

Using mobile data capture technologies, such as smartphones and tablets equipped with specialised software and applications, businesses can ensure food arrives at the right destination, on time, with proof of delivery.

Plus, it’s being used to ensure goods arrive in perfect condition, and the overall transportation adheres to stringent UK laws regarding food safety.

Optimising routes to reduce operational overheads and improve delivery rates.

One area of transformation relates to optimising route planning and navigation in delivery. Finding the shortest and/or fastest way to make food deliveries to ensure items don’t perish, is of particular interest.

Teams that have access to optimised delivery route planning tools can take advantage of advanced routing algorithms and GPS. Delivery teams can determine the quickest route to their customer’s premises. When combined with real-time traffic information, it’s a powerful way to ensure schedules stay optimised after the driver leaves the depot.

Preventing disputes using real-time proof of delivery and geo-location data.

Many organisations recognise that GPS data can be used in other ways too. For example, when used with RFID tags, packages can be easily located along a route providing live updates on progress. This is especially helpful for end-to-end traceability, maintaining an accurate digital record and settling any disputes quickly.

In addition, reducing operational costs, such as fuel costs, is a significant upside to the approach. Conversely, it opens capacity up and presents new business opportunities as more items can potentially be delivered within the same time period.

To bring this to life, in the case of PODStar, using signing on screens means transactions are inherently easier to trace and prove. PODStar’s real time data which includes photos, date, time and geo-location data eradicates the costly and resource-consuming issue of disputes.

Where errors have been made, PODstar’s easy to use ‘exceptions system’ allows true disputes to be reported in real time and acted upon immediately by the back office.

Prevent wastage with enhanced traceability and refrigeration monitoring, and tracing high value assets

Many food products, particularly perishable items such as fresh produce, dairy and meat, are highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Maintaining the right temperature can be the difference between fresh, safe food and a health hazard. These food items must be stored and transported under specific conditions to ensure they maintain their quality and safety.  

By using refrigerated vehicles equipped with temperature sensors, and mobile computers with monitoring software, food providers can continuously track the temperature of products throughout the distribution process. By integrating temperature sensor monitoring software and barcode scanning capabilities in mobile devices, delivery drivers can easily and quickly capture and transmit data in real-time. This allows the drivers to verify the integrity of perishable goods upon pickup and delivery, reducing the risk of spoilage and foodborne illnesses. This ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and mitigates the risk of damage or contamination during the last mile delivery.  

Additionally, in compliance with UK food traceability laws, these solutions help businesses keep accurate records of the journey and can be supplemented by photographs as evidence of measures taken to meet standards. For a complete view, photographs can be added to the mobile solutions, as is the case with PODStar’s ‘Real Time POD’ feature.

But it’s not just food and drink that operational teams need to track. Costly assets also need to make it back to the depot. PODStar comes with a dedicated feature tracks assets, such as cages, trolleys, dollys, totes, and pallets, and lets customers run reports to ensure their return.

Improving communication from depot to customer

Communication is critical when perishable goods are at stake. With mobile data capture solutions, drivers can receive instant traffic or customer updates, confirm delivery details and quickly address any emerging issues, all the while remaining in contact with key stakeholders.  

This seamless communication increases transparency and efficiency throughout the supply chain. It enables drivers to make well-informed decisions, and it streamlines communication between drivers and dispatchers. It’s also an effective source of information when it comes to keeping customers updated. With more information, operations teams can offer customers a choice, such as to move their delivery, or nominate a safe place if they will no longer be available to receive items. This instils confidence with customers, improving the overall customer experience and brand perception.  

Case study: Why Tican HQ uses PODStar for efficient temperature-controlled delivery

Many businesses are already reaping the benefits of integrating mobile data capture solutions into their operations. For instance, Tican Chilled has streamlined its delivery operations and reduced its paper usage by at least 70% through adopting the cloud based PODStar system.  

Smarter planning: The PODStar system offers a planning tool that automates existing manual processes and uses up-to-date information to create job runs and allocate drivers to vehicles. Delivery drivers, using smartphones equipped with mobile data capture apps, receive their job assignments and, once the delivery is completed, provide real-time electronic proof of delivery. Meanwhile, Tican HQ monitors their locations, job status and driver performance in real-time.  

Smarter payments: Additionally, TouchStar has enhanced Tican's system with a payments module for precise billing and collection, and temperature control functionality. The payments module allows the Tican driver to see how much money they should be collecting from clients, record the amount received and have the option to take partial payment.

Smarter monitoring: The temperature logging feature allows recording at vehicle checks and at every delivery stop, if required. There is also an option to mandate a photo of the readout from the onboard temperature reading equipment to prove compliance in relation to ambient, chilled and frozen temperatures.   

This integrated solution ensures efficient and transparent delivery management and underscores the tangible benefits of adopting mobile data capture solutions in the food delivery industry.  

Conclusion

Food delivery is fraught with challenges, including traffic, routing and timing issues. However, mobile data capture solutions are mitigating these challenges through sophisticated route optimisation algorithms and real-time traffic updates. This ensures that food deliveries are made as efficiently as possible, reducing delivery times, minimising errors and adhering to food health and safety standards.  

The role of mobile data capture in enhancing last-mile food delivery cannot be overstated. By ensuring proper handling, maintaining temperature control, and optimising delivery routes, mobile data capture solutions are setting new standards in food safety, quality and efficiency. As the food delivery industry continues to grow, the adoption of these technologies is not just beneficial in 2025, it's becoming essential for success. For businesses in the food delivery sector, now is the time to invest in solutions that enable mobile data capture. It will be the difference between a great customer experience and a poor one.

Is your business looking to increase its operational efficiency, accuracy and adhere to food health and safety regulations? If you are not sure where to start, speak with the TouchStar PODStar team. We will help you take a strategic move towards future-proofing your business.