eCommerce is constantly changing, so staying up to date is an ongoing challenge for every online business. Understanding what consumers want is as important as understanding how and when they want it. Consumer expectations around order delivery include the estimated delivery time, a choice of shipping options and order tracking.
According to a recent study by Metapack, 43% of users surveyed have had a negative experience with the delivery of their order. Younger users are the most demanding. For Millennials, the online generation, the type of delivery is a deciding factor in the purchase process, and 62% have abandoned a purchase because the delivery options weren’t what they wanted.
Delivery options play an increasingly important role in the purchase process, as they can determine which online store shoppers choose. 66% of consumers chose one retailer over another because it offered better delivery options, and 49% had even paid more for a delivery option that better suited their needs.
The same survey asked which delivery services they would be willing to use in the future.
There are different distribution options, with home delivery being the most common and widely used. To stand out, some companies offer same-day or even 1-hour delivery.
How can orders be delivered in so little time?
Convenience points
Between 20% and 30% of deliveries in Spain fail, and in 90% of cases it’s because the customer isn’t at the delivery point. To solve this, many eCommerce businesses are joining convenience pickup point networks. Different retailers can join these networks to attract potential customers to their premises.
Pickup points are most popular in the Nordic countries; in Sweden alone, 90% of deliveries are made to these points.
This approach not only achieves a delivery success rate close to 100% but also makes returns easier, since consumers drop off the order at their own convenience.
Uber Rush
US private transportation company Uber has just launched its Uber Rush service in beta. Small retailers can contact Uber users to schedule an order pickup and deliver it to the consumer’s home at a mutually agreed time.
The service only operates in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, with goods delivered by bike couriers and drivers. If this kind of service expands to other countries, 1-hour order delivery would become viable.
Drones
Amazon was the first to hint at its intention to deliver orders by drone. It promised 30-minute deliveries using unmanned aircraft under the name Amazon Prime Air. The project would revolutionize urban deliveries, cutting delivery times, saving resources and reducing environmental pollution.
As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos himself announced at the end of 2013, the project would be available by 2015. With less than two months left in the year, we have yet to see a single drone delivering the mail. Some say it was nothing more than a marketing strategy that paid off for the company, whose sales rose 31% over the same period the previous year.
What is clear is that it opened the door to what could be one of the shipping methods of the future.
Delivery lockers
This method involves leaving the order in secure lockers, usually provided by large companies, whose opening code is sent to the customer.
The service lets consumers collect their package whenever they want, without waiting at home or at work for the courier.
It is increasingly used in the United States, Japan and China, where package theft is more common.
Shipping method isn’t the only thing users care about; easy returns matter too.
76% of consumers check the returns policy before completing a purchase, and 81% would choose the eCommerce store with the easiest returns service.
Adding information such as the returns policy, payment methods or delivery time to your eCommerce content pages is an important conversion measure, as it answers questions consumers may have.
Last but not least are reviews of product delivery. A poor delivery reputation on social media can lead up to 56% of potential customers to decide not to buy from your online store.
Shipping methods, often overlooked by retailers, are known as the last mile. For a customer buying online, the only contact they have with your company is the delivery of their order: the better the delivery, the better the user’s shopping experience.
