Have you noticed that your customers are becoming less tolerant of delivery issues? Have you started receiving more calls from angry customers?
The pandemic has changed many aspects of our daily lives and has considerably reshaped the way we shop, with 40% of people saying they shopped more online during the pandemic. Package delivery volumes are higher than they’ve ever been and are expected to grow by 100% over the next three years. Ordering online is becoming the norm, and customers are getting used to convenience.
In order to respond well to customers’ expectations and to stand out from the competition (or at least not be left behind), businesses have had to adapt and find ways to offer a seamless delivery experience to their customers.
Learn more about how customers’ delivery expectations have changed and the best ways to respond to them:
#Businesses have had time to adapt
If most customers said they were comprehensive when the pandemic started, things have changed more than a year later now that businesses have had the time to adapt to the new conditions.
The pandemic is not an excuse anymore.
With vaccines being available, businesses reopening, and new methods being implemented to ensure workers’ safety, most customers consider that the pandemic is not an excuse for late deliveries or issues with orders.
How to respond: Late deliveries will displease your customers, so you should focus on optimizing your operations to deliver faster. In order to reduce road time, you should consider using delivery software with a powerful route builder. It will optimize your routes using real-time data in order to avoid traffic as much as possible, and it will allow you to increase daily delivery amounts. Moreover, route building only takes a few seconds, and it can reduce road planning time by up to 93%.
#Technology is available
In 2021, people know that technology is available and they could get access to a lot of information about their parcel. They might have experienced delivery with live tracking provided by some companies, so they know it is available, and 80% of people expect to be able to track their parcels.
Delivery experience is more important now than ever.
Businesses should understand that the pre-purchase experience or the products themselves are no longer enough to retain their customers. Customers may love the products, but a negative delivery experience can prevent them from buying again from the brand. In fact, 83% of customers say they are less likely to re-purchase from a retailer after a negative delivery experience.
Better communication and more transparency.
Technology offers better communication with your customers and shows transparency. By informing your customers of where their parcel is, notifying them if the driver will be late, and recording every important element (e.g., photos, proof of delivery), you are showing them that they can trust you and that you have control over your deliveries.
How to respond: Offer your customers the option to track their parcels with a delivery software that will allow them to do so in real-time and receive updates on their delivery via SMS/email. This will be convenient for them and eliminate their anxiety as they can know precisely when they will be delivered. It might also greatly reduce the number of calls you receive as customers won’t be calling to find out where their package is.