How to build a sustainable e-commerce delivery strategy?

Start by mapping out your current e-commerce delivery experience and delivery options. Pinpoint the pain points your customers are enduring as well as problems in your logistics operations that are causing an uptake in errors, costs, workload and inefficiency.

Next, look at what your competitors are doing and gain inspiration from leaders in other e-commerce sectors. While you may not be able to deploy a full-scale delivery experience that competes with Amazon, for example, on Day 1, this research will help you map out your short-, mid- and long-term vision and milestones.

Determine what type of stellar delivery experience you want to create. Think of the different ways you can delight customers and eliminate delivery headaches, such as:

● Offer a tool that can easily be integrated into your e-commerce website and points of sale for customers to access a calendar with delivery options, dates and windows

● Set up automated and dynamic scheduling: as customers add items to the shopping carts, they can view changes to delivery options, dates and windows

● Offer loyal customers or orders with high-ticket items premium delivery time slots

● Think green: provide delivery options for customers who are environmentally conscious (delivery by electric vehicle, last-mile providers that pick up packaging for recycling or old appliances to be disposed of appropriately based on functioning, etc.)

● Give customers delivery dates that take into account transit specifics and based on where goods are located (at a manufacturer, in a foreign distribution warehouse, etc.

● Provide delivery flexible options for customers. Offer them home deliveries or deliveries to a retail store, warehouse or third-party pick-up point. Let them select the delivery speed (same day, next day, 2-3 days, 5 days, 10 days, etc.)

● Speed is important in e-commerce deliveries, but above all, you need to develop the capacity to consolidate shipments and collaborate between first to mid to last mile partners in order to optimize delivery workflows and reduce costs

● Give customers real-time visibility into their deliveries via easy-to-use web, desktop, table and smartphone applications

● Provide communications with customers via text messaging, emails or automated calls

● Embed reverse logistics within your delivery workflow and operations.

● Think about leveraging the power of commercially available solutions that feature algorithms that can better manage inventory based on selected delivery options, inventory location and distribution points

Once you’ve gotten a clear picture of your delivery experience and needs, start exploring new technologies. Many readily available e-commerce solutions on the market today can enable you to do much more than just build an e-commerce story. ClearDestination, for example, an innovative, cloud-based end-to-end delivery management solution, offers highly sophisticated features to help manufacturers and retailers improve their delivery experience and operate more efficiently—with minimal resources or technology savviness.

What do customers really want out of their e-commerce delivery experience?

Next-generation e-commerce consumers have varying e-commerce delivery needs.

Next-generation e-commerce consumers have varying e-commerce delivery needs depending upon their age, socio-demographics, culture, income, lifestyles, e-commerce purchasing history and experience, the type of product they are buying, and the perceived level of immediacy (“I need it now!”).

Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent consumer needs with respect to e-commerce deliveries, apart from the aforementioned free deliveries. 

Speed of delivery: Not surprisingly, consumers want their e-commerce purchases—and they want them STAT. According to a 2018 UPS report, entitled UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper Study, 45% of US and 39% of Canadian consumers expect that orders placed between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. are eligible for express or next-day delivery.

RetailWire even found that, during a comprehensive consumer poll, the maximum number of days customers are willing to wait for an item to be delivered in exchange for free shipping decreased from 5.5 days in 2012 to 4.1 in 2018. This finding has most likely been exacerbated by the unmatched performance of Amazon Prime, which has raised the bar significantly on fast delivery. Flexibility and convenience: While free shipping may seem to be the holy grail of an e-commerce delivery experience strategy, it is important to remember that many consumers nevertheless want flexible shipping options. RetailTouchpoints indicates that 88% of customers are willing to pay for same-day delivery.

Still others are not looking for free delivery per se; rather, they want a variety of options to choose from, regardless of their location or type of product. In UPS’ study, 2 out of 3 consumers have used “buy online, pick-up in store” programs to avoid shipping fees and maximize speed. In a nutshell, tailor deliveries to customers’ preferences and lifestyle— not the other way around.

Another important factor? Letting customers choose their delivery date and time windows.

End-to-end visibility: Nothing frustrates consumers more than a lack of information—and real-time visibility—into where their order is actually landed in the logistics chain. If expectations haven’t been set clearly from the start as to timelines or if delivery dates are not respected, customer dissatisfaction is likely to occur. This can cause a snowball effect in terms of repeated customer service calls, cancelled orders, and competitors waiting for these jaded consumers with open arms. With today’s technologies, there is simply no excuse for e-commerce businesses not to offer customers end-to-end visibility into their shipments. However, due to the complexities of logistics networks, which are often comprised of multiple first-, mid- and last-mile partners with discrepant backend solutions and siloed workflows, achieving seamless logistics collaboration can be difficult at best.

Transparency: Visibility also means not just talking the talk—but walking the walk. In a RetailerTouchpoints poll, transparency is a major sell point for hard-earned consumers. Did you know that 63% of online shoppers indicate that knowing the estimated or guaranteed delivery date is important? On top of end-to-end visibility, customers also prefer that manufacturers and retailers remain upfront with any delivery issues; in other words, if a delivery is set to be late, let customers know as soon as possible. In an era of e-commerce, the element of negative surprise and a lack of proactivity is far from ideal.

Accuracy: First-time-right deliveries may appear to be no-brainers for impatient online shoppers, but that does not mean that manufacturers, retailers or their carrier partners are immune to errors in terms of inaccurate orders, which may mean missing items, surpluses or altogether unwanted products that somehow found their way into a customer’s shipment. Inaccurate deliveries are a hassle for customers, particularly in the case of product returns, and a profit-gouging problem for manufacturers and retailers, which have to manage the reverse logistics.