How is delivery orchestration different from delivery management?

Delivery management software typically helps you organize and track deliveries within a single carrier or your own fleet. Delivery orchestration goes further by connecting multiple carriers into a unified network, using AI to select the best provider for each order, and automating the entire dispatch-to-delivery workflow across all of them. Management is about visibility; orchestration is about automated, intelligent decision-making across providers.

What businesses benefit from delivery orchestration?

Any business that relies on local delivery benefits from delivery orchestration. This includes retailers, 3PLs and warehouses, laundry and dry cleaning services, bakeries and food businesses, wineries, florists, and multi-location businesses. If you coordinate more than a handful of deliveries per day or work with multiple carriers, orchestration eliminates manual overhead and improves reliability.

Does delivery orchestration work with Shopify?

Yes. Getcho, a delivery orchestration platform, integrates directly with Shopify. Orders sync automatically, deliveries are dispatched to the best available fleet, and customers receive branded tracking pages with real-time updates. The integration supports same-day delivery, scheduled delivery, recurring deliveries, and more.

How does AI improve delivery orchestration?

AI powers the core decision engine in a delivery orchestration platform. It evaluates fleet availability, driver proximity, vehicle type, delivery window, cost, and historical reliability data to match each order with the optimal provider in real time. AI also enables predictive ETAs, automated re-routing when issues arise, and intelligent batching of multi-stop deliveries.

What is a multi-DSP fleet network?

A multi-DSP (delivery service provider) fleet network is a pool of independent courier and delivery companies connected through a single platform. Instead of contracting with one carrier, businesses access dozens of providers through the orchestration platform. This creates redundancy, increases coverage, and ensures a driver is always available regardless of demand spikes or individual carrier issues.

How much does delivery orchestration cost?

Delivery orchestration platforms like Getcho offer flexible pricing based on delivery volume. Options typically include per-delivery pricing, monthly subscription plans, and custom enterprise pricing for high-volume operations. The cost of orchestration is offset by reduced manual labor, fewer failed deliveries, and better carrier rates through network competition.

Can delivery orchestration handle same-day delivery?

Yes. Same-day delivery is one of the primary use cases for delivery orchestration. The platform matches each order with the nearest available driver from the best-suited fleet, enabling pickup and delivery within hours. Getcho supports same-day, next-day, scheduled, on-demand, and recurring delivery types through its orchestration engine.

How does delivery orchestration reduce delivery costs?

Delivery orchestration reduces costs by matching each order to the cheapest fleet that meets its specific constraints — timing, distance, payload, and reliability. A 2-mile urban delivery goes to a bike courier, not a van. A 4-hour window uses a cheaper batched route, not a rush driver. A multi-DSP network also creates price competition — carriers know they are being compared on every order, which drives rates down across the board.

What happens when a delivery fails with a single carrier?

With a single carrier, a failed delivery means manual re-coordination — calling the carrier, waiting for a new driver, potentially missing the delivery window entirely. With delivery orchestration, the platform automatically re-dispatches to a different fleet provider within minutes. The customer still gets their delivery on time, and your team does not have to intervene. This redundancy is one of the biggest operational advantages of a multi-DSP network over single-carrier dependency.

Definitive Guide

What is Delivery Orchestration?

Delivery orchestration is the automated coordination of last-mile deliveries across multiple fleet providers using AI and software. Instead of manually dispatching drivers from a single carrier, delivery orchestration platforms connect businesses to a network of delivery service providers (DSPs) and use intelligent routing to match each order with the best available fleet — optimizing for speed, cost, reliability, and vehicle type.

Getcho, a delivery orchestration platform, connects your business to a multi-DSP fleet network and automates the entire dispatch-to-delivery workflow — so you never manually coordinate a driver again.

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The Core Concept

How Delivery Orchestration Works

A delivery orchestration platform sits between your business and your fleet providers. When an order comes in, the platform evaluates every available option and makes the best decision automatically — from dispatch to proof of delivery.

1. Order Received

An order arrives from your store, Shopify, API, or dashboard. The orchestration platform captures the pickup location, delivery address, item details, and delivery window.

2. AI Matches to Best Fleet

The AI engine evaluates every available fleet provider — comparing driver proximity, vehicle type, cost, delivery speed, and carrier reliability — then selects the optimal match in real time.

3. Automated Dispatch

The driver is dispatched automatically with full pickup instructions. AI Voice Agents call the driver in their preferred language. No manual coordination required from your team.

4. Unified Tracking

Regardless of which carrier handles the delivery, your customer sees a single branded tracking page with live map, ETA, and driver location. Your team monitors everything from one dashboard.

5. AI Monitoring

AI agents monitor every delivery in real time — tracking progress, detecting delays, and escalating only when human judgment is needed. Your ops team manages by exception, not by micromanagement.

Why It Matters

The Problem Delivery Orchestration Solves

Many businesses still manage deliveries with phone calls, spreadsheets, and a single carrier they hope shows up. When that carrier has driver shortages, surge pricing, or service failures, the entire delivery operation breaks down. Here are the problems delivery orchestration eliminates.

Single-Carrier Risk: Relying on one delivery service provider means every delivery fails when that carrier has driver shortages, vehicle breakdowns, or capacity limits. A multi-DSP network ensures there is always a backup fleet ready to fulfill.
Manual Dispatch Overhead: Staff spending hours every day coordinating drivers, making phone calls, copying addresses into delivery apps, and chasing down ETAs. Delivery orchestration automates every step from order to proof of delivery.
Inconsistent Quality: Different carriers deliver different experiences to your customers. One is fast but careless. Another is reliable but slow. Orchestration enforces consistent service standards across all providers and routes to the best performer for each delivery.
No Visibility: Fragmented tracking across multiple carrier dashboards means no one knows the real status of any delivery. Orchestration unifies all tracking into a single view — one dashboard for your team, one branded tracking page for your customer.
Scaling Limits: Without orchestration, increasing delivery volume means increasing headcount to manage dispatch. Orchestration lets you scale from 10 to 200+ deliveries per day without adding operations staff — AI handles the coordination.
Delivery Losses: Damaged, late, or missing deliveries with no accountability trail. Delivery orchestration provides proof-of-delivery photos, GPS timestamps, full audit logs, and carrier performance scoring so you can hold providers accountable.

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Cost Intelligence

How Delivery Orchestration Optimizes Cost

Most businesses overpay for delivery because they use one fleet for everything. Delivery orchestration evaluates every order against multiple fleets and selects the cheapest option that meets your constraints — timing, distance, payload, and reliability. Here is how each constraint affects cost.

Timing

A 60-minute rush delivery requires a nearby, immediately available driver — the most expensive fleet option. A 4-hour window opens up cheaper fleets with optimized routes. Orchestration selects the cheapest fleet that meets the delivery window, not the fastest by default.

Distance

A 2-mile urban delivery is cheapest on a bike courier. A 15-mile suburban run needs a car. A 50-mile haul needs a van. Without orchestration, businesses use the same carrier for all three and overpay on the short runs while getting suboptimal service on the long ones.

Payload

A 2-pound envelope, a 50-pound box, and a case of wine each need different vehicles. Orchestration matches vehicle type to cargo automatically — no van rates for a bike job, no car service for a load that needs a cargo van.

Reliability vs. Price

The cheapest fleet is not always the cheapest option. A $12 delivery that fails 15% of the time costs more than a $15 delivery that succeeds 99% of the time — once you factor in re-dispatch, refunds, and lost customers. AI weighs historical success rates alongside price.

The Real Cost of Failure

A failed delivery is not just one lost delivery — it is a re-dispatch fee, a customer refund, a support ticket, and brand damage. Businesses using a single carrier absorb these losses with no alternative. Orchestration automatically re-dispatches to a different fleet when failures occur.

Single-Fleet Lock-In

When you depend on one carrier, you pay whatever they charge. No leverage, no comparison, no alternative during surge pricing or service outages. A multi-fleet network creates natural price competition — carriers know they are being compared on every order.

Fulfillment Models

Where Delivery Orchestration Fits in Your Operation

Delivery orchestration supports multiple fulfillment strategies through the same platform. The two most common models:

Customer-Facing Delivery

Delivery appears as a checkout option — the customer selects a window and pays a fee. The orchestration platform dispatches the fastest available fleet, monitors the order, and sends branded tracking updates. This model increases conversion and average order value.

Ship from Store

Online orders routed through local couriers from the nearest store instead of a warehouse. The customer sees "standard shipping" but receives it faster. The orchestration platform picks the optimal fulfillment location based on inventory and proximity, then dispatches a local driver. Lower cost, faster delivery, less packaging waste.

Many businesses run both models simultaneously. The orchestration layer decides which model applies to each order based on rules you configure — delivery zone, product type, customer selection, or order value.

Compare Approaches

Delivery Orchestration vs. Traditional Approaches

Delivery orchestration is not just another name for delivery management software. It represents a fundamentally different approach to last-mile logistics. Here is how the models compare.

Single-Carrier Model

You contract with one delivery provider. All orders go to that carrier. When they have driver shortages, surge pricing, or service failures, you have no alternative. Coverage is limited to their fleet's geographic range and vehicle types.

Delivery Orchestration

Your orders are routed across a network of fleet providers. AI selects the best carrier for each delivery based on real-time availability, proximity, cost, and performance history. If one carrier cannot fulfill, another picks up automatically.

Manual Dispatch

Your team manually assigns drivers, calls carriers, copies addresses, and tracks deliveries across multiple dashboards. This works at low volume but breaks down as order count grows, consuming hours of staff time daily.

AI-Powered Matching

Orders are automatically matched to the best available driver from the best fleet provider. AI considers proximity, vehicle type, delivery window, cost, and carrier reliability score. Dispatch happens in seconds without human involvement.

Delivery Management Software

Traditional delivery management tools help you track and organize deliveries within your existing carrier relationships. They provide dashboards, notifications, and reporting — but they do not make carrier selection decisions or automate dispatch across multiple providers.

Delivery Orchestration Platform

An orchestration platform does everything management software does — plus it connects multiple fleet providers, makes intelligent carrier selection decisions with AI, automates dispatch end-to-end, and provides a unified experience for your team and customers.

Industries

Who Needs Delivery Orchestration?

Any business that coordinates local deliveries benefits from orchestration. These are the industries where it has the biggest impact.

Retailers

Same-day delivery from store locations with multi-location routing and branded tracking.

3PLs & Warehouses

High-volume dispatch orchestration with AI fleet matching and real-time monitoring.

Laundry & Dry Cleaning

Recurring pickup and delivery schedules with automated driver coordination.

Bakeries & Food

Time-sensitive delivery for perishable goods with vehicle matching and handling instructions.

Wineries

Age-verified delivery with proof of delivery and detailed handling instructions.

Multi-Location Businesses

Route orders to the nearest location with inventory for faster fulfillment across your footprint.

Platform Capabilities

Features of a Delivery Orchestration Platform

A complete delivery orchestration platform goes beyond basic dispatch. These are the capabilities that define the category — and that Getcho delivers out of the box.

AI Fleet Matching: Every order is automatically matched to the best available driver from the optimal fleet provider. AI evaluates proximity, vehicle type, cost, speed, and carrier performance in real time.
AI Voice Agents: AI voice agents call your delivery drivers in their preferred language — gate codes, parking instructions, pickup details, and delivery notes. Customers receive SMS and email updates. Zero manual coordination.
Branded Tracking: White-label tracking pages with your logo, colors, and domain. Real-time map, driver location, ETA, SMS and email notifications, and proof-of-delivery photos — all under your brand.
Recurring Deliveries: Set up weekly, biweekly, or custom recurring delivery schedules. The orchestration platform automatically dispatches drivers on schedule without any manual re-booking.
Multi-Location Routing: Automatically route orders to the nearest store or warehouse with available inventory. Reduce delivery times and costs across your entire multi-location footprint.
Integration Hub: Connect to Shopify, Slack, WhatsApp, email, SMS, and more. The orchestration platform integrates with your existing tools so delivery data flows across your entire operations stack.

Delivery Orchestration FAQ

Frequently asked questions about delivery orchestration

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What is delivery orchestration?: Delivery orchestration is the automated coordination of last-mile deliveries across multiple fleet providers using AI and software. Instead of relying on a single carrier or manual dispatch, a delivery orchestration platform connects your business to a network of delivery service providers and uses intelligent routing to match each order with the best available fleet based on speed, cost, reliability, and vehicle type.
How is delivery orchestration different from delivery management?: Delivery management software typically helps you organize and track deliveries within a single carrier or your own fleet. Delivery orchestration goes further by connecting multiple carriers into a unified network, using AI to select the best provider for each order, and automating the entire dispatch-to-delivery workflow across all of them. Management is about visibility; orchestration is about automated, intelligent decision-making across providers.
What businesses benefit from delivery orchestration?: Any business that relies on local delivery benefits from delivery orchestration. This includes retailers, 3PLs and warehouses, laundry and dry cleaning services, bakeries and food businesses, wineries, florists, and multi-location businesses. If you coordinate more than a handful of deliveries per day or work with multiple carriers, orchestration eliminates manual overhead and improves reliability.
Does delivery orchestration work with Shopify?: Yes. Getcho, a delivery orchestration platform, integrates directly with Shopify. Orders sync automatically, deliveries are dispatched to the best available fleet, and customers receive branded tracking pages with real-time updates. The integration supports same-day delivery, scheduled delivery, recurring deliveries, and more.
How does AI improve delivery orchestration?: AI powers the core decision engine in a delivery orchestration platform. It evaluates fleet availability, driver proximity, vehicle type, delivery window, cost, and historical reliability data to match each order with the optimal provider in real time. AI also enables predictive ETAs, automated re-routing when issues arise, and intelligent batching of multi-stop deliveries.
What is a multi-DSP fleet network?: A multi-DSP (delivery service provider) fleet network is a pool of independent courier and delivery companies connected through a single platform. Instead of contracting with one carrier, businesses access dozens of providers through the orchestration platform. This creates redundancy, increases coverage, and ensures a driver is always available regardless of demand spikes or individual carrier issues.
How much does delivery orchestration cost?: Delivery orchestration platforms like Getcho offer flexible pricing based on delivery volume. Options typically include per-delivery pricing, monthly subscription plans, and custom enterprise pricing for high-volume operations. The cost of orchestration is offset by reduced manual labor, fewer failed deliveries, and better carrier rates through network competition.
Can delivery orchestration handle same-day delivery?: Yes. Same-day delivery is one of the primary use cases for delivery orchestration. The platform matches each order with the nearest available driver from the best-suited fleet, enabling pickup and delivery within hours. Getcho supports same-day, next-day, scheduled, on-demand, and recurring delivery types through its orchestration engine.
How does delivery orchestration reduce delivery costs?: Delivery orchestration reduces costs by matching each order to the cheapest fleet that meets its specific constraints — timing, distance, payload, and reliability. A 2-mile urban delivery goes to a bike courier, not a van. A 4-hour window uses a cheaper batched route, not a rush driver. A multi-DSP network also creates price competition — carriers know they are being compared on every order, which drives rates down across the board.
What happens when a delivery fails with a single carrier?: With a single carrier, a failed delivery means manual re-coordination — calling the carrier, waiting for a new driver, potentially missing the delivery window entirely. With delivery orchestration, the platform automatically re-dispatches to a different fleet provider within minutes. The customer still gets their delivery on time, and your team does not have to intervene. This redundancy is one of the biggest operational advantages of a multi-DSP network over single-carrier dependency.

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