How Setting Delivery Expectations Increases Sales & Customer Satisfaction

Today’s checkout abandonment rate is 70% on average across all industries, and with consumers’ need-for-speed and short attention span, there are a variety of factors that cause abandonment. Fear not, though! Checkout improvements have been found to recover $260 billion for eCommerce sites. 

This article explains why setting and successfully delivering on customer expectations is crucial to your business’s success, and how it’s a make or break to fostering customer loyalty, and ultimately your brands’ revenues. 

Checkout is not the end of the user journey, but rather a beginning

Amazon makes up about 50% of the US eCommerce market, so clearly they’re doing something right! More specifically, they’ve gained their customers confidence and loyalty by providing a seamless and speedy delivery experience. They offer a very specific delivery time or window and not only do they guarantee/promise to customers, but they truly deliver on that promise. While independent brands are strong, they can easily lose out to this eComm giant. Our partners at PrettyDamnQuick are bringing the Amazon Experience to Independent Brands to democratize eCommerce and help create satisfying and optimized customer experiences. 

Specific ways to create an Amazon-like experience for your independent brand include: 

Arrive by Dates

Checkout is a perfect opportunity to build customer loyalty and trust. Research shows that 62% of customers say an accurate estimated delivery date is more important than fast shipping, so providing your customers with a clear understanding of when their packages will arrive is crucial to building trust that will turn customers into returning loyalists. Many brands today use ambiguous language like “3-5 Business Days” at checkout, and this common mistake often encourages customers to reach out to customer support with WISMO (Where Is My Order) requests. Adding in arrive-by dates nearly eliminates WISMO requests and can save your customer services teams’ time.

Offer Free Shipping

Many brands offer free shipping, which is awesome. Free shipping encourages customers to spend more on products, as they don’t need to pay a fee for shipping. To emphasize this point, 93% of online shoppers are encouraged to buy more products if the store offers a free shipping option. While free shipping may not be right for all brands, it's worth knowing that 9 out of 10 customers recognize free shipping as a top most incentive to shop online more, orders placed with free shipping average around 30% higher in value. With free shipping options, make sure to specify as precisely as possible when the package will arrive, so customers have a strong understanding. 

Multiple Shipping Options & Carriers

Offering a variety of shipping options, (but not too many!) offers your customers a bit of choice at checkout. Many eCommerce brands only offer one shipping option, and 66% of consumers have bought goods from one retailer over another because it provided more delivery choices. Offering three shipping options, including a free shipping option, is the perfect checkout mix. Adding additional shipping methods can also boost your brands revenues. 49% of consumers have paid more for better or more convenient delivery options. 

Shipping variability helps you meet your customer's needs. While some customers may only want free shipping, others may require same or next-day delivery. 57% of online consumers find same day or next day delivery options to be the most important factor at checkout. All customers vary in their delivery preferences, so offering a variety of not only options, but carriers, helps meet your customers’ needs. The data is clear – consumers want choice! 

While setting delivery expectations is important, it’s even more important to deliver as promised

Retention is one of the biggest eCommerce buzzwords today. As brands retain users by building loyalty and trust, they can identify stronger ways to deliver delight and gain an even deeper understanding of their target audience's desires. Successful retention is a cost-effective way of maintaining customers and earning more. Brands are 60-70% likely to sell to an existing customer, while changes of successful selling to a new customer are 5-20%. Thus, creating an amazing experience in all facets can significantly impact a brand’s bottom line. 

Boost or Break Retention

Creating a positive experience can boost the amount of returning customers you have, and ultimately your profits. Significant factors that define a positive delivery experience include fast delivery, low shipping costs, and delivery tracking/variability. All of the above-mentioned checkout factors will contribute to a positive delivery experience as well. 

On the other hand, A bad delivery experience can be a make or break to earning a new customer. 85% of customers will not shop with a retailer again after having had a poor delivery experience. Don’t set your brand up for failure by offering a promise and not successfully delivering on it. Our partners at PrettyDamnQuick’s platform can assist on all of your needs from checkout through doorstep delivery so that you can optimize the full delivery experience. 

Increased Costs

If a brand serves an unreliable and disappointing delivery experience, it may result in additional returns and the need to push even more for new customers. Return logistics and support can be incredibly costly, and should generally be avoided. Poor delivery service diminishes your sales and marketing efforts, as they’ve gone to waste. If a brand loses a potential customer due to a negative shipping experience, then it will endure additional costs to reach out to new potential customers. You can see how it all comes back to delivery – good delivery = happy customer, bad delivery = potentially lost customer and returned item. 

Reviews

Prioritizing your customer’s shipping experience also reflects heightening customer reviews. Consumers do their research. 93% of consumers check online reviews before purchasing a product, and if a negative delivery experience could cause a bad review, we want to avoid that at all costs. Beyond this stat, 80% of consumers don't purchase from a company that has bad reviews. Delivering your promises protects against the downside of not only losing current customers but also obtaining new potential customers. 

In Conclusion

Delivering your delivery promises is crucial to a successful customer experience, and has the power to increase sales, customer satisfaction, and a brand’s bottom line. If you incorporate these checkout tips, avoid making the classic mistakes laid out. For help increasing your checkout conversion and maximizing your shipping revenue, reach out to PrettyDamnQuick! 

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Guest Blog Post by PrettyDamnQuick for ShipNetwork 

Written by Samantha Felgoise, Head of Partnerships at PrettyDamnQuick