Retailers were determined to make Peak week (that is the Monday before Black Friday up to Cyber Monday) successful this year by being well prepared. 2020 saw an unprecedented shift toward online shopping, and as a result, many retailers spread their offers over longer periods and started discounting earlier in November. This was to encourage festive shoppers to buy early, so the orders were spread out rather than overwhelm their logistics resources by having a huge peak weekend.
This is smart thinking, considering the enormous increase compared to this time last year. At Scurri, we’ve seen a +188% increase in online orders in November 2020 compared to November 2019, for anyone without a smart delivery management system in place those numbers will be extremely challenging!
eCommerce merchants have successfully transformed November into ‘Cyber Month’ with offers of varying degrees available throughout the period. But what happens with those orders after the checkout when the shopper eagerly awaits their prize?
Customers who experience a bad delivery are the source of 77 % of negative online reviews.
Where is my order?
This is where the customer expectation around delivery kicks in. Shoppers have been largely understanding when it comes to delivery challenges during the pandemic. Still, they expect retailers to have resolved these by now and for their deliveries to arrive on time.
Some retailers were using banners on their homepage to manage expectations by stating how long deliveries were taking in general. However, if the customer was told that delivery would take 5 – 7 days, customer service teams found they would receive calls on the 5th day with the inevitable question “where is my order?”.
Brands need a reliable delivery strategy in place to stay ahead of the competition. Online reviews are a determining factor for shoppers when purchasing, so trustworthy delivery is a crucial area to focus on
“We love how much control and flexibility we have using the Scurri API, it’s so easy to use, as is the rules engine. We can see all our data easily and use it to continuously develop and offer the best possible delivery service to our customers.”
Control & visibility
There is a crucial piece of the puzzle missing in the above scenario and one that is easily resolved by the right technology. Shoppers want visibility on their orders, if they don’t receive updates and can’t track their parcel, they feel a loss of control and worry they won’t receive their package on time or miss the delivery because they were out when it should arrive.
This apprehension is not a pleasurable experience for the shopper and does nothing for their sense of trust in the brand. (one bad review stat, not return) On top of that, it’s causing undue stress on customer service teams.
78% of consumers expect to receive Tracking updates on their orders.
Take the power back with data
For retailers that lose visibility of their shipments, once they’ve left the warehouse, this is a loss of control for the not just on their deliveries but on their customer experience. The good news is that in this data-driven era and with the right technology, that gap is completely avoidable.
Retailers using Scurri for their delivery management have access to accurate and concise information for every aspect of their delivery, all in one place. Scurri provides a standardised view of the data from all carriers which means retailers can provide useful updates and tracking links to their customers.
Retailers that take the time to learn about carrier performance and ensure they have a multi-carrier approach will have the advantage. Having one central hub for all carriers and data on their performance means merchants can easily expand capacity and manage delivery volumes across carriers.
By turning Tracking data to your advantage in this way, you can gain control and flexibility and the power to build a trusted reputation with customers. By providing the best experience possible, you can make delivery your competitive advantage.
“We just started using Scurri as our carrier management system – it’s enabled us to bring onboard a second courier very quickly and will enable us, as an ops team, to switch volume to a number of other couriers without needing tech support.”
AUTHOR
Laura Roche Marketing Executive, Scurri
Laura Roche is a Marketing Executive at Scurri, managing social media and content marketing. Laura shares breaking news in the eCommerce space with our readers as well as sharing insights across the delivery and logistics landscape.