By Johan Hellman, VP Product and Carrier, nShift
Building brand loyalty in retail and ecommerce is getting harder. Despite spending increasing sums on discounts and promotions to entice new customers, retailers struggle with one-time purchasers and serial purchase-and-return consumers. What’s more, they must contend with rising marketing and logistics costs.
More efficient and higher quality deliveries can help retailers retain customers and boost revenues – without breaking the bank.
Too many retailers regard deliveries as a purely logistical matter. But, for customers, they’re fundamental. Deliveries are more than parcels and boxes. They’re the building blocks of closer customer connections. Time and again, surveys tell us customers will shop with retailers which meet their expectations time and again.
So, how can retailers turn deliveries into a competitive advantage? The answer is to combine effective delivery management, with an outstanding experience for customers. We call this capability “delivery & experience management” (DMXM).
DMXM enables retailers to drive ecommerce success in four ways.
1. Growth beyond limits
Most retailers pride themselves on giving customers a personalised service. So, it is striking that so many follow a “one size fits all” approach to deliveries. This often reflects a dependence on book and print tools that are too complex, unreliable, or limited in the carrier connections they offer.
The right kind of book and print capability boasts all the carrier connections a retailer could ever need, right out of the box. That enables them to deliver on promises and overcome growth constraints of geography, pace, and rising costs. It also simplifies key logistics processes, like benchmarking carrier performance, making greater use of zero-emissions carriers, and managing international logistics.
And, it goes without saying, that book and print capabilities should also enable warehouses to support ever-greater volumes of orders.
2. A joined-up experience for customers
The customer experience doesn’t end at the payments page. In fact, it continues from the checkout to their doorstep, and on to buying again. This is the “post-purchase” customer experience, and it should include, as a minimum:
- The right delivery options at checkout – including zero-emissions carriers and out-of-home choices such as pick up / drop off (PUDO) locations
- A superior tracking experience so customers can follow their deliveries and redirect them easily if they’re likely to be away
- Simple and intuitive returns, which maximise revenue retention for retailers
A slick, connected experience is both reassuring for customers, and presents opportunities for retailers to get closer to them – at every stage of the journey.
3. Data-tight ecommerce, from the homepage to the doorstep
Retailers gather a wealth of ecommerce customer insights at the point of sale but know little about their preferences in the last mile. DMXM plugs this information gap by combining data from carriers and delivery management software with that of other business software. This “homepage to doorstep” view of the customer can help sharpen insights, break down internal silos, and improve operational efficiency.
4. Lasting competitive advantage
In ecommerce, the next challenge is always around the corner. The brands and retailers that thrive take advantage of new channels to reach customers, provide the information and level of control customers expect, and adapt to meet their needs. With the right software in place, backed by vendors that are here for the long term, retailers can be reassured they will be one step ahead – now, and in future.
From a world of boxes to a world of opportunity
We’re seeing more and more retailers rethinking their approach to deliveries. They’re offering a wider range of delivery options, using more carriers, and combining that with a first-class user experience. As a result, they are enjoying greater loyalty and faster growth than their competitors.
Those bland packages stacked in loading bays enclose worlds of opportunity and excitement for the customers who receive them. Retailers that differentiate through deliveries will achieve far greater ecommerce success than those that do not.
Find out more about building brand differentiation and customer loyalty, with the delivery experience.
