In this digital age, eCommerce and retail businesses provide smart, instant solutions for customer satisfaction and retention. Hence, consumers are not keen on inconveniences and unfortunate delays anymore. From banking, shopping, and even ordering food, consumers expect nothing but fast and smooth transactions.
So what does this mean for your business? It means, the shorter time your client would need to complete a transaction with you, the better. In hindsight, the moment you fall short to meet the benchmark, you might as well have already lost a potential client.
When and where did this start anyway?
What’s this benchmark, you may ask? It’s the Amazon effect. As you well know, Amazon has set the golden standard in retail. Since the early 90s, not only did the giant change the way Americans shop, but it also changed consumer’s demands, especially with their record-breaking deliveries.
At first, it was a five to seven-day delivery, the Jurassic standard. Then it became two days, and later on, an overnight delivery. Both of which are the game-changers in the retail industry. However, it did not stop there. Today, same-day delivery services exist and are now on top of the podium.
And those who choose to stand still and refuse to keep up with modernization and technological advancements would gravely suffer from the consequences, should there be any to bounce back from. There are over 12,000 retail stores that closed during the pandemic just last year.
So if you want to make it out of this trying time alive, it is about time you take your chances and consider offering smarter solutions, real-time tracking updates, and same-day delivery services.
How would you get started? Get a partner.
Providing same-day delivery to attract new customers is what this post is telling you. However, doing it without proper knowledge and ammo would backfire and cause you even more damage. When you realize there are tons of messages in your inbox from irate customers asking for updates about where their packages are, you would then know that a same-day delivery service is not something every retail owner could achieve.
If there is something else that consumers hate, that is false advertisements. If you had promised a same-day delivery, they would be expecting with their device on hand, ready to write you a review. So, if you do not have powerful PR personnel in your team to handle the inevitable mess, you should at least have a reliable partner.
Local on-call riders suffice for small businesses, but to be sustainable, you need a more efficient software solution to equip. If you want your retail business to thrive and not just survive this pandemic, you need a reliable fleet-management monitoring system like that offered by companies such as Chevin Fleet to make your same-day services marketable and profitable. A provider who could give you the proper system and infrastructure to make your same-day delivery a success.
Consumers merely want constant reassurance from retail stores. They want to be sure that their money has gone to someone trustworthy and that they would receive what they ordered. Thus, when you provide them with a same-day delivery service along with real-time tracking, you are building your business credibility and authority.
What’s next? Make sure you have the supply to meet the demand.
Understanding consumer behavior and getting the means to deliver to your target market is one thing, but making sure you can supply the demand is another thing. Before you task your internal marketing team to put same-day delivery on your website, check your inventory, and answer the question: Could you supply every order that comes in the day before your cut-off?
If you paused for a moment there, then the answer is probably not. With the spike of online shopping nowadays, you could never anticipate the volume of incoming orders. One day it is low, and the next day, it could overwhelm you.
In retail, failing to comply with orders is worse than heartbreak. Imagine a potential lead already there, almost a converted sale, and you already have the means to fulfill the demand, but when the time comes to ship the order, you realize that you have run out of stock. Surely you cannot tell them to wait until you finish rummaging your warehouse. You would have to turn them away, and that is lost business.
Understand and prepare for the phenomena
In business, everything needs proper preparation, and offering same-day delivery services is no different. With great convenience comes a great price, and you need to be fully equipped before you walk your talk. Understand the market, how your target consumers behave, how their online activities shift, and how they want your products or services. Then, find the means to eradicate any hint of service inconvenience and delays. Lastly, make sure you have more than enough in your supply line so that every lead you gather is yours to make an ROI from.
