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How can you reduce water delivery costs through automation?

Why are delivery costs rising, and how can we influence this?

At first glance, water delivery seems like a simple process: there’s an order, a van, a few addresses — and the customer receives their bottles. In reality, particularly in Kyiv, Lviv or Odesa, dozens of factors affect the cost price: traffic and gated courtyards, paid parking, ‘empty’ journeys between districts, rescheduling due to errors in orders, losses of returnable containers, downtime at the warehouse and the time dispatchers spend on coordination. Add to this rising fuel prices, vehicle maintenance and wages — and costs are constantly rising.

It is impossible to keep this under control without a single ‘service control centre’. One tried-and-tested method is the automation of business processes. When an order from the website or via the phone is automatically entered into the CRM, routes are planned taking into account the customer’s timing and location, the courier receives a checklist on their phone, and stock and returnable container records are synchronised in real time — eliminating unnecessary kilometres, duplicate orders and ‘paperwork losses’. The result is optimised water delivery costs: fewer kilometres travelled and fewer coordination calls, fewer delays, fewer write-offs for packaging — and more deliveries completed within a shift.

For example, in systems such as Venta-CRM, courier routes are generated automatically based on the workload in each area and customers’ time slots, and changes are reflected in the app in just a few clicks. This isn’t just convenient — it has a direct impact on the company’s profitability, as it helps reduce costs without increasing staff numbers.

Next, we’ll look at a specific area where automation delivers rapid results, and how this works in practice.

Route optimisation: how to save on fuel and time without compromising on service quality

A few years ago, the owner of a water delivery company in Kharkiv noticed something strange: two vans serving neighbouring districts covered almost the same distance, but one was consistently running late. Couriers were spending more time coordinating their routes, and customers were receiving their deliveries late.

Following the implementation of theroute optimisation module the situation changed. The system automatically reallocated addresses amongst drivers, took into account traffic jams and collection times at customers’ premises, and prioritised orders. The results over the month: an 18 per cent reduction in fuel costs, up to 25 per cent fewer delays and a noticeable reduction in ‘zigzagging’ between districts. Couriers were able to complete more deliveries without having to re-route, whilst dispatchers spent less time ‘on the phone’.

Why it works:
● Fewer kilometres. Shorter journeys = lower fuel costs and less wear and tear on the car.
● Fewer coordination calls. The courier can see route changes and the ETA in the app, so working time is used more efficiently.
● Order prioritisation. VIP customers and urgent deliveries are guaranteed to arrive on time, making the service more reliable.

This feature is supported not only by Venta-CRM but also by other modern solutions; however, the greatest benefit comes from combining optimisation with the courier’s mobile app and GPS tracking. Taken together, this means automation and cost reduction without compromising on service quality — particularly in large cities, where every minute and every extra kilometre costs a significant amount of money.

Returnable packaging control: how to avoid subtle but significant losses

The problem.
In the water delivery business, one of the most painful ‘hidden’ sources of loss is the loss of returnable containers. A single bottle lost at a customer’s premises means a loss of 150–300 UAH in deposit and replacement costs. If there are 20–30 such incidents a month, this amounts to tens of thousands of hryvnias in losses per year. Often, this happens not because of malicious intent, but due to a lack of transparent record-keeping: the courier failed to note the return, the customer forgot, or the dispatcher did not spot the outstanding balance in the system.

Consequences:
● Withdrawal of working capital — new containers have to be purchased regularly instead of returning them to circulation.
● Rising production/purchasing costs — demand planning becomes chaotic, and the warehouse underestimates the amount of packaging ‘tied up’ with customers.
● A decline in customer discipline — without clear record-keeping, some customers delay returns and disputes arise over deposits.

Solution.
Modern CRM systems, such as Venta-CRM, provide comprehensive tracking of every bottle assigned to a customer. When delivering or collecting containers, the courier records this in the courier app; the entry is immediately linked to the order and the customer’s profile in the CRM. The system:
automatically generates gentle reminders about returns (via SMS, Viber or email);
● shows the container debt on the order before scheduling the next delivery;
● adds the collateral value to the account where necessary;
● generates reports: ‘packaging held by customers’, ‘courier liability’, ‘overdue by days’.

Result:
● Real-time online monitoring of returnable packaging — who has it, how much, and from which date.
● Transparent mutual settlements — fewer disputes with customers and a clear overview for the accounts department.
● Managed processes — the dispatcher can see outstanding tasks prior to route planning and can correctly organise a ‘deliver + collect’ route.

Figures that confirm the effect:
● A 70–90 per cent reduction in container losses during the first 1–3 months following the introduction of container tracking.
● The time taken for the client and courier to check the delivery details is reduced several-fold (from hours to minutes), as everything is visible on the smartphone and in the CRM.
● Improved cash flow — deposits are returned to circulation more quickly, reducing the need for additional purchases of packaging.

Important: Setting up this process is not a ‘major project’. If you have Venta-CRM and the courier app, it’s done in no time: you simply start recording deliveries and returns in real time — and from the very first weeks, you’ll see unaccounted-for losses disappear.

How automation reduces staff costs

1. Less time spent on paperwork
Instead of printing delivery notes and invoices ‘manually’, everything is generated automatically whilst the order is being processed in the order management module. All it takes is a few clicks from the manager — the system retrieves the customer’s details from their purchase history, generates a delivery note, an invoice and a commercial quotation, and sends confirmation to the customer via email, SMS or a messaging app. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces the number of errors and saves the dispatcher 1–2 hours of work every day.

2. The courier operates without paper forms
Courier app displays the route, the order of stops and notes (‘collect empty containers’, ‘cash/card’), and allows you to confirm delivery with a signature or photo and record payment. Statuses are instantly synced to the CRM, eliminating the need for paper slips and end-of-shift reports. Less paper means fewer errors and less time spent entering data into the system.

3. Less duplication of tasks between departments
When the CRM is integrated with the website and the telephone system, a request is created once and then ‘lives’ within a single system: the sales team can view the deal, the dispatcher can see the route, the warehouse can check stock levels, and the accounts team can access the documents. Stock levels for goods and packaging are pulled from the stock and packaging records, whilst repeat orders are generated from the order history without the need for manual re-entry. No more copying and pasting between Excel and messaging apps — less confusion and fewer ‘lost’ requests.

4. Reducing the need for additional administrators
Automatic statuses, customer notifications, document templates and online applications via the website, all integrated with the CRM, eliminate the routine tasks that were previously carried out by individual assistants. A single experienced CRM manager can easily handle a greater volume of work without having to juggle phone calls and chat messages. As a result, you save on recruitment costs, whilst reducing the number of errors and speeding up the processing of applications.
Taken together, this results in a significant reduction in operating costs: fewer hours spent on paperwork, no duplication of effort, rapid document turnaround and transparent processes for the ‘field’ team. If required, I can provide a brief calculation of the savings based on your vehicle fleet and average order volume.

Analytics: how to identify hidden costs that are ‘eating into’ profits

Most business owners seem to think that the main costs involved in water delivery are fuel and couriers’ wages. But if you look at the data more closely, you’ll find losses that nobody suspected: extra kilometres due to ‘manual’ re-routing of addresses, waiting time at the customer’s premises, uneven vehicle loading, late payments and untimely return of containers. For example, one company in Dnipro discovered that the majority of delays were not caused by traffic, but because the dispatcher was adding unscheduled addresses ‘on the fly’, without taking time slots into account. As a result, dozens of extra kilometres were added every day and two or three orders were missed.

Properly configured analytics allow you to identify these ‘gaps’ in the process. GPS data and the route optimisation module show where couriers are making unnecessary detours and where routes need to be re-planned. Load statistics indicate when some vehicles are running half-empty whilst others are overloaded — meaning that limits and address allocation rules should be reviewed. Timestamps in the CRM order management system reveal at which stages delays occur: call reception, confirmation, dispatch or on-site delivery. Financial reports quickly highlight payment issues — where debts are ‘stuck’, how often customers breach prepayment terms, and how this affects working capital. Profitability profiles by customer based onorder history allow you to identify low-margin segments: sometimes specific regions or customer types systematically ‘eat into’ profits due to complex logistics or small order values.

Modern solutions, such as Venta-CRM, bring all key metrics together on a single dashboard: mileage and ETA from the courier’s mobile app, order processing time from the CRM, returns and deposits from packaging records, and booking accuracy from warehouse records. When the figures are at your fingertips, decisions become data-driven: re-route deliveries to ‘red’ areas, adjust time slots, set reminders for packaging, and tighten payment rules for high-risk segments. The conclusion is simple: analytics eliminates guesswork, an automated system provides daily oversight, and you can reduce costs more quickly whilst simultaneously improving service quality.

Warehouse automation: cost savings without compromising service speed

Before the system is implemented, the warehouse often operates ‘by eye’: stock levels are counted manually, the figures do not match reality, and the courier waits in a queue whilst the warehouse assistant searches for the required bottles or related products. The manager takes an order and only realises an item is out of stock during dispatch — leading to delays, rescheduling and unnecessary journeys. As a result, losses become more frequent: some items are ordered in excess, tying up capital, whilst others run out at the worst possible moment.

To eliminate this uncertainty, stock management is integrated and synchronised with the order list in the CRM and container management. The system knows in real time what has been reserved for deliveries, what has already been written off following delivery, and what needs to be reordered to avoid stock shortages.

On automation:
– stock levels are checked manually, so it’s easy to make a mistake;
– couriers are waiting by the loading bay whilst they look for the right goods;
– ‘Dead’ stock eats into working capital, whilst shortfalls cause flights to be cancelled.

Following the implementation of stock control:
– stock information is updated instantly, and stock is automatically set aside for orders;
– The system alerts you when stock levels are running low and generates a draft order for the supplier.

From then on, everything runs like clockwork: the courier receives, via the courier app, a precise list of items for their route and collects the ready-to-dispatch items in a matter of minutes without any waiting. When creating an order, the manager sees not only ‘in stock/out of stock’ but also the expected restock date — so they can immediately agree on a convenient option with the customer. Procurement planning is based on seasonality and sales history: money doesn’t sit as ‘dead stock’ in the warehouse, but is put to work in deliveries.

The result is less chaos, less manual labour and greater predictability. In practice, companies are seeing a 15–25 per cent reduction in warehouse costs thanks to accurate stock allocation and automatic alerts, whilst order processing speeds are increasing due to the elimination of delays at the loading bay. This isn’t just about savings, but also better service: deliveries leave on time, and customers receive their water when promised.

Integrating the website with the CRM: less manual work, more time saved

A few months ago, the owner of a water delivery company in Lviv lodged a complaint: his managers were spending 2–3 hours every day manually transferring orders from a form on the website into the CRM system. This was leading to delays, errors in telephone numbers and even the loss of some orders.

The solution was to integrate the website with the CRM system so that every order is automatically entered into the database with all the necessary details — the customer’s full name, address, number of bottles, payment method and even UTM tags for analysing advertising channels.

What has changed following the integration:
● Managers no longer have to spend time entering orders manually.
● Data errors have been reduced to almost zero.
● Customers have started receiving order confirmations more quickly.
● The manager is now able to analyse which channels generate the most profitable orders.

Tip: If you’re planning to automate your processes, start by integrating your website with your CRM. This is the quickest way to achieve tangible results in terms of saving time and reducing operational costs.

Conclusion: automation is an investment, not an expense

Automating water delivery offers businesses far more than just ‘convenience’. It transforms day-to-day operations — from receiving orders to returning containers — into a managed, transparent process where decisions are made based on data rather than intuition. When orders are entered into CRM order management, routes are planned by the route optimisation module, whilst container issuance and return records are tracked by the container management system; the company simultaneously saves on fuel, reduces ‘lost’ bottles, processes orders faster and improves service accuracy. Add to this warehouse management, which eliminates shortages and ‘dead’ stock, and order history, which suggests the right time for repeat purchases — and we have a systemic effect that is reflected in the financial figures every day.

In competing cities — from Kyiv and Odesa to Almaty and Tashkent — speed and predictability have become the new currency of customer loyalty. Customers expect an accurate ETA, confirmation via messaging apps, and accurate fare calculations. It is automation that ensures these expectations are met: the courier’s app synchronises with the office in real time, whilst the website integrates with the CRM, eliminating manual data entry and reducing processing time to seconds. As a result, the business gains not just a ‘little extra convenience’, but significant cost savings: fewer kilometres travelled, less paperwork, fewer disputes — and more deliveries per shift without needing to increase staff numbers.

The payback period for such an investment is usually measured in months rather than years. A 15–25 per cent reduction in mileage, the return of deposits on packaging, fewer service calls and reduced dispatcher working hours, and the elimination of warehouse-related disruptions — all of this adds up to a significant increase in profit margins. Then there is the ‘leverage effect’: the more orders there are, the more noticeable the difference becomes between manual management and a system-supported process.

If you’d like to see how this works with your own figures, risk-free, start with a short pilot: set up CRM for water delivery, enable route planning, container tracking and stock management, take orders via the website using the CRM — and in just 1–2 weeks you’ll have accurate metrics on time, mileage and repeat orders. Automation isn’t just a ‘software cost’ but a strategic tool that helps you sell faster, more accurately and more efficiently, leaving your competitors behind.

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© 2019 - 2024 • Venta-CRM

Telegram

Home

Tariffs

Video review

Blog

About the company

Contacts

Offer contract

Opportunities

CRM system

App for couriers

Order management

Route optimization

Website + CRM (for water)



© 2019 - 2024 • Venta-CRM