Late deliveries are very common and a real problem for all e-tailers.
When you ship an order, you rely on your carrier partners to inform you of the delivery status. You then communicate the expected delivery date in the notifications you send to your customers. Despite this, your deliveries may be delayed for a variety of reasons, particularly at times of peak periods such as sales or the end-of-year period. This can leave your customer service department swamped with incoming calls. WISMO (Where Is My Order) from your customers informing you that they have not received their parcel. It’s often at this point that you realize there’s been a delay on the carrier’s end.
Late and inaccurate deliveries affect your brand image, customer loyalty and, ultimately, your profits. A customer who has experienced a late delivery is less likely to buy from your store again. This reduces your chances of winning their loyalty. A detractor is often more harmful than an ambassador, so it’s vital to maintain ongoing communication with each and every one of your customers. This relationship with your customers is just as important when things are going well as when there’s a problem.
What’s more, a poor delivery experience can lead to negative comments and affect the number of potential customers. Indeed, a single negative review can influence many Internet users not to buy from you.
Causes of shipping delays
There are a number of events that can jeopardize your delivery promise:
- errors in the delivery address (misspelling, incorrect or incomplete address, etc.)
- unexpected weather events,
- increased orders due to peaks in activity (Christmas, Black Friday, sales…)
- several unsuccessful delivery attempts when the recipient is not present,
- customs problems,
- …
Apart from weather-related causes or natural disasters, most delays can be resolved efficiently.
How can you make the most of late arrivals?
There are several solutions for managing and anticipating late deliveries. Communicating with your customer is extremely important. If one of your customers hasn’t received their parcel, the least you can do is send them messages to reassure them. Maintain contact with the customer and inform them of the condition of the parcel, apologize and explain the situation.
1 – Be responsive
Make sure you take responsibility and deal with customer dissatisfaction. Don’t try to avoid the problem. Facing up to the situation and doing your best will help you manage this difficult situation. Act quickly and be proactive. Contact the customer before they contact you. Continue to provide ongoing updates as and when you have new information to share.
2 – (Re)Give your customers control
Customers will be calmer if they feel they have some control over the situation. Offer them options and allow them to make decisions to help remedy the situation. Suggest, for example, that they choose another delivery method if it’s more convenient for them.
3 – Offer them special deals
Send the customer special offers if you haven’t kept your delivery promise. This will ease their anxiety and make them feel valued.
For example, offer them free delivery on their next order.
4 – Collaborate with several carriers
Be flexible in your choice of carriers. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That way, if you have delivery problems with one carrier at any given time, you can quickly turn to another carrier to ensure your shipments are delivered on time.
5 – Equip yourself with a centralized real-time monitoring tool
This will give you more control over the shipping process and enable you to respond to delays before your customers are even aware of them. For example, you can set up internal notifications in your tool that alert you when there’s a delay on one of your orders, and allow you to contact your customer directly. In addition, you can create follow-up pages which will enable you to be more reactive in communicating with your customers.
The WelcomeTrack tool can help you optimize your shipments and correct delivery problems before they occur and affect your customers.