The right delivery service strategies and techniques can help to improve online sales. However, with up to 80% of all customers claiming they won’t return to a store (off- or online) after a bad customer experience, on-time performance is more critical than ever before.
On-time performance relates to your customers and your profits. It has a direct effect on your sales. The improved on-time performance will lead to greater levels of customer satisfaction, help enhance your efficiency, and attract new customers. There are many things you can do to improve delivery time, including implementing delivery routing software to develop more defined processes. Keep reading for a few more specific improvement methods you can try.
Invest in the Use of a Local Warehouse
Most eCommerce services will ship goods all across the country. When you invest in a local warehouse and have several locations throughout the country where goods are delivered, it can be beneficial. Unfortunately, for small and mid-sized businesses, having countless warehouses spread across the nation may not be feasible. In this situation, choose a few strategic locations and set up warehouses there. By having multiple warehouses to ship products out of, it is possible to improve the likelihood of on-time delivery.
Keep Realistic Deadlines
To take on a more extensive sales load, do not ever promise an unrealistic delivery timeline. Instead, create a timeline that is realistic and follow through with it – aggressively. Along the same lines, do not be overly relaxed with the timeline. If so, you may wind up losing some of your best customers. Also, this type of loss may be your competition’s gain.
There is a very fine line between an unsustainable delivery service timeline and more relaxed timelines. You have to find a way to navigate safely down this road. You may wonder how to decide on these delivery times? That’s a good question and something you can do by analyzing the efficiency level of your timeline and setting the delivery timeline based on this.
Maintain Good Relationships with Carriers
In the end, the amount of time it takes for your shipment to arrive at the customer’s doorstep is dependent on the efficiency of the carrier service used. Take time to find a reliable service provider who will be able to meet your expectations and demands.
After you have found a carrier that accepts your requirements, make sure you keep a good relationship with them by making payments on time. Also, you can help the carrier with the goal of delivering on time by offering timely information, such as stock clearance, customer details, and more.
Manage Your Inventory
Imagine if you came across a product you wanted to purchase online, and on the eCommerce website, it lets you know it is in-stock and ready to ship. However, after you place your order and pay for it, you receive an email stating it is out-of-stock. You have already been promised the product and on-time delivery. Chances are, at this point, you would be pretty frustrated.
As a business owner, it is up to you to make sure the products you have available on your website are truly available. If they are not, this is going to cause issues for your business and how customers perceive the business. There is modern inventory management software you can use to manage what you have available. When things are out-of-stock, this software can change availability automatically on the website. This saves you the possibility of being found in the scenario described above.
Predict Production Demands
There are some items that you offer that are going to be more popular than the others. Also, some areas in the country may have a more significant demand for a specific item. Taking time to analyze your data history is going to give you a good idea of what products are needed and what regions you need more of a particular product in.
Partner with a Reliable 3PL Company
If you find that picking and packing orders on your own are a huge struggle, you can outsource this service. When you outsource your order fulfillment process or even just a part of it, you can make sure that your company achieves and retains the reputation of being on-time. When you outsource to a third-party service provider, it will also help to reduce your transportation costs while ensuring fast delivery of products to your end customers.
Invest in Real-Time Order Tracking
If you want to ensure a higher level of customer satisfaction, you need to ensure that your customer can track their purchase online. When you let your customers know where their package is in the delivery journey, they can have confidence that you are not just sitting on their order, not taking any steps. With reliable and easy-to-use order management software, you can also track orders and ensure you are meeting your time performance goals.
Achieving the Desired Delivery Levels
When it comes to ensuring that you are delivering your products on time, you cannot cut corners or just assume that things are working properly. This is one of the primary ways that companies are not able to meet customer expectations, which leads to lower levels of customer satisfaction.
It is a good idea to use the tips and the information here to create a plan that will help ensure you get the desired results and to make sure that you are not missing these crucial delivery time goals. In the long run, by keeping your promises regarding delivery of your products to customers, you can keep them happier and there will be a higher chance of them returning and shopping with you again in the future.
As mentioned above, a smart step is to hire outside help with picking, packing, and shipping if necessary. This third-party service provider can offer the high level of services that your customers not only expect, but demand. This will also help you achieve a much higher level of customer satisfaction, which is essential in today’s competitive landscape.
