To attract and retain customers, you need to pay just as much attention to your delivery options as you do the other areas of your business. So, here are six things that today’s customers want during the delivery process and that you should consider adopting.
1. Different Delivery Options
Today’s customers want a variety of delivery options. For some people, getting deliveries fast is the top priority whereas, for others, the most important thing is affordability.
Therefore, businesses should offer a number of delivery options to ensure they please all of their customers.
If your customers want same-day delivery, for instance, but you can only offer standard delivery or next-date delivery, you could lose out on those customers who want same-day delivery as they could go with a competitor instead.
If you’re unable to meet such delivery demands of your customers, it’s best to partner with a delivery company that can meet those demands.
For instance, if you’re based in Austin, Texas, you could use an Austin courier service like Drop Off, which provides a same-day courier service in Austin among other delivery options.
Standard, next-day and same-delivery aren’t the only options that customers want during the delivery process. More and more customers want to choose specific time slots, such as mornings or afternoons or even precise arrival times.
2. Free Delivery
Many customers only buy products that come with free delivery. Again, you could potentially lose out on customers who want free delivery as they could go with a competitor instead of buying from you.
However, you should review the needs of your specific customer base to determine whether free delivery is a top priority, as it’s usually best to either offer free delivery or a variety of delivery options, such as standard and same-day delivery.
If you do want to offer free delivery, it’s probably best to offer the service for economy deliveries that take longer than standard deliveries. Also, you’ll want to make sure that the cost of delivery is considered when pricing your products that are eligible for free delivery.
3. Reliability
While the cost and speed of deliveries are important to today’s customers, reliability is just as important.
When customers’ orders take longer to reach them than expected, regardless of the delivery option that they have chosen, you will have dissatisfied customers. In turn, that will decrease your customer retention rate.
The last thing you want to do is lose customers, so make sure every delivery is delivered on time.
Though, occasionally uncontrollable elements can delay deliveries, such as road accidents and bad weather. When such instances arise, it’s vital that you let your customers know that there is a delay and the reason behind the delay.
4. Tracking
Following on from the last point, today’s customers want to be able to track their orders.
So, you should definitely provide tracking capabilities to your customers so that they can check on the status of their orders at any time.
Tracking also helps companies to keep track of deliveries to ensure items don’t go missing and to have proof of delivery should customers say their items haven’t been delivered when they have.
5. Proof of Delivery
Proof of delivery is beneficial for both customers and businesses. So, it’s best to get with the times and use a system that involves drivers photographing deliveries when they reach their destinations to prove that items have been delivered.
6. Alternate Delivery Locations
Many of today’s customers want the option for items to be delivered to alternative addresses than their home/billing addresses, such as locations like workplaces and neighbors’ houses.
Also, more and more customers want the option to change the delivery location after placing their orders. If you’re able to include such options with your delivery system, you could gain an advantage over your competitors.