In Focus: Retailers, Customer Delight is Tied to Exceptional Delivery Experiences

With the convenience of online shopping, shoppers have been gifted with the comfort of shopping from their couch., customers now have the entire marketplace at their fingertips and possess greater purchasing power than ever before.. According to our research, India’s e-commerce revenue will reach $113.5 billion in 2024 and has the potential to reach $191 billion by 2027.

However, India is not the only country contributing to the growth of e-commerce across the world.Southeast Asia has over 222 million users in 2020 and has a growth potential of 411 million by 2025. Out of all the countries in SEA, Indonesia is shown to be the major driver of e-commerce growth in the region, with user size of 138 million and revenue of $61 billion in 2023 and is said to reach $104 billion by 2027. 

Now that you know the potential of the e-commerce market, you, as a retailer, should be aware of shoppers’ expectations. Modern shoppers pay more attention to the delivery experience they receive from retailers rather than discounts and product variety. 

This means that delayed delivery caused due to delivery exceptions like weather, vehicle issues, delays due to manual process, etc. will not just cost you customer experience but also future business. The key for retail/e-commerce companies to achieve customer delight is an enhanced delivery experience. How do you do that? 

Our Head of Business Development, Archi Serrao will walk you through the expectations of online shoppers and how retailers can take advantage of various technology levers to cater to customers’ expectations in this in-depth webinar session. 

       Watch our webinar to find out more about customer expectations

Takeaways from the web session:

1. Shoppers’ delivery expectations

Customers’ top priority is delivery experience. It is not surprising to know that  62% of online shoppers in the U.S. say delivery speed is what makes for a good purchase experience. But how do retailers zero down on what exactly needs optimization in the delivery process? Here’s what your customers are thinking:

1. Shipping cost: Shipping cost is one of the primary reasons for cart abandonment in the e-commerce business. Higher delivery costs will lead to customers looking elsewhere to shop. Retailers need to have economical shipping prices by optimizing fleets and third-party carriers to reduce shipping costs.

2. On-demand delivery: Retailers used to get by just fine by using manual logistics management methods to cater to the delivery demands of their customers, which weren’t evolving or unpredictable. But modern customers have a mindset of “I want it right now”. Anywhere from same-day delivery to just a few hours is what retailers need to gear up for.

3. Time and day of delivery matters: Customers are just as busy as retailers, planning their day, and they want what they ordered within a specified time frame, not an ambiguous time slot that the retailers/e-commerce display on their checkout page, but a specific time customers prefer. 

2. Locus in action:

Bigbasket, one of India’s largest e-grocery companies. Locus helped Bigbasket hit 99.5% SLA rate by optimizing routing, cost and other crucial last mile challenges. Read more here on how Locus transformed Bigbasket’s last mile operations.

3. Technology that can make a difference

Locus has been helping retail and e-commerce companies make delivery experiences memorable for customers. Here’s how our solution works:

1. Order to delivery: Our order-to-delivery dispatch management solutions can help retailers with capacity planning, slot management, routing, automated notifications, fleet management, and more. 

2. The secret sauce to enhanced delivery experience: Wouldn’t it be great if retailers could deliver stellar delivery experiences without compromising operations excellence? Our Delivery Linked Checkout solution can do just that. 

• Capacity-led bookings: The primary concern for retailers is inefficient capacity management which leads to the inability to accommodate dynamic order demands. Locus’ solution can help retailers plan capacity ahead of time and cater to the sudden surge in orders with ease. 

• High first-attempt delivery: With optimized routes, create precise delivery schedules to reduce reattempts and failed deliveries.

• Reduce empty miles and carbon emissions: Reduce empty miles by clustering deliveries for high drop density, optimal load capacity, utilizing fleet optimization for lesser number of vehicles on the ground, and deliver on optimized routes for faster delivery to reduce CO2 emissions.

• Monetize your delivery options: Retailers often overlook customers’ preferred delivery times, which can vary based on individual preferences. By analyzing customers’ purchase behavior data, retailers can gain valuable insights into their preferred delivery windows and use this information to generate revenue.

Watch our webinar for information on how DLC can transform your delivery process

Locus’ Delivery Linked Checkout empowers businesses to drive customer delight with convenient and accurate delivery time slots at the time of checkout. The feature facilitates an easy and highly customizable post-fulfillment journey by offering multiple precise delivery schedules, any-time cancellations, or even changing delivery windows after selection.

Our delivery solution has enabled over 850 million orders across the globe, saved $275 million in logistics costs, and helped achieve 99.5% SLA.