Delivery Experience: 6 Common Mistakes to Avoid

98% of online shoppers agree that shipping impacts brand and customer loyalty, and 84% are less likely to return after one bad interaction with your brand or business.  

In today’s highly competitive market dominated by on-demand delivery services, focusing on providing a delightful experience and optimizing for SEO in West Palm Beach will put your online business ahead of your competitors.  

By improving your order and delivery system so that it can harmonize various moving parts and work smoothly across supply chains, you can convince consumers to buy from your brand and meet the expectations of demanding customers.

In this article, we are going to share with you the most common challenges or mistakes that prevent online businesses from providing a great delivery experience.  

But before that, let’s first discuss the importance of optimizing your delivery experience, from the warehouse shelf up to the point at which the package finally arrives at your customer's door.  

The Importance of Providing a Great Delivery Experience

Consumers today have a wide array of options for quick and cheap delivery. Because of this, customer satisfaction in the delivery experience is more important than ever.  

According to Salesforce’s State of Connected Customer report, 76% of consumers expect you to identify their expectations and needs. If you fail to meet their expectations, they’ll be quick to switch to a competitor.  

A delightful experience can trigger deep emotional responses from your customers, which promotes loyalty.  

By having a well-designed delivery experience, you can provide additional value to your customers, boost your sales and customer retention, and strengthen your brand by creating an unforgettable brand experience down to the last-mile delivery.  

Factors that Define a Great Delivery Experience

Customers consider the following factors when deciding to buy an item for delivery with your online business:

• Speed and Timeliness – Average delivery times are anywhere between 2-5 business days. Aim to have your customers’ packages within this time frame or on the day they expect to receive them. If same-day or next-day delivery is possible for local customers, provide that option.  

• Convenience – Consumers want flexibility and convenience. They want to have the option to have their items delivered at a particular time or date that suits their schedule. Provide your customers the freedom to specify when they want to receive their items.  
• Price – 41% of online shoppers are willing to pay more for same-day deliveries. Depending on how price-sensitive your customers are, you might get away with charging more in exchange for speed and convenience. Still, provide cheaper shipping options to make sure you can serve all your customers.  
• Sustainability – 61% of consumers consider sustainability to be a crucial factor to consider during a purchase. If you can provide speed and convenience through sustainable delivery, the better.
• Communication – Customers expect you to update them about the whereabouts of their packages. Make sure to send status updates about their package through email, push notification, or text so they can provide further instructions or ask someone to receive it on their behalf in case they’re not around.  

6 Common Mistakes Businesses Do that Jeopardize their Delivery Experience

Whether you have an in-house delivery service or rely on a third-party courier company to have your items delivered, it's important to be aware of these mistakes and avoid them at all costs.  

1. Failing to Understand Customer Expectations

The first mistake businesses make when designing their delivery experience is not knowing what their customers expect from their brand.  

By getting to know your best customers on a deeper level and understanding their expectations, you can tailor your entire delivery experience according to their wants and needs.  

This allows you to lay the foundation of delightful brand interaction.  

Gather data and create customer profiles so you can conduct in-depth analysis and develop actionable insights. You and your team can use this to create a memorable and delightful brand experience.  

There are so many ways you can gather insights from your customers. Here are some of our favorites:

• Use Instagram stories to run polls, This or That, and other forms of surveys about your delivery experience.  
• Email your customers surveys or ask for their feedback on how you can better improve your delivery experience.  
• Ask your customers directly through interviews. You can incentivize them by giving away freebies or exclusive coupons for their next purchase.  

2. Not Considering the Various Stages of the Buyer’s Journey

Customers go through various stages and touchpoints in the buyer’s journey before they actually get to the delivery stage. Make sure you engage your customers at each stage and meet them at every touchpoint to create a seamless experience.  

If there are obstacles or friction in their journey, they might never reach the delivery stage.

The customer journey has different phases. Here are some ideas on what you should be doing at each stage to move your customers closer to making a purchase:

• Awareness – Your goal is to make a lasting first impression on your prospects by having an active presence on social media and optimizing your site for SEO in West Palm Beach. When done successfully, people will likely return to your brand later in the journey. Some of the ways you can raise brand awareness across social media are by publishing visual content that seeks to engage and educate your audience about who you are, what you do, and what you offer as a business. You can also run giveaways or contests and partner with influencers to widen your reach.  

• Consideration – In this stage, people seek to evaluate and compare different brands to identify which product or service is the best fit solution to their problem. You can use customer reviews and ratings to persuade customers to choose you over your competitors. Optimize customer testimonials on social media by using relevant hashtags and optimizing for SEO in West Palm Beach for better visibility.  
• Purchase – This is the stage where a consumer is ready to buy. Modern consumers switch between channels and devices when shopping online. To bring your customers closer to the point of purchase, provide a unified omnichannel shopping experience. This means giving customers the ability to browse your website, check out products on your IG shop, and receive customer service on Facebook messenger.
• Retention – This is where you leverage great delivery experience. Update your customers about the whereabouts of their package until they receive it. Don’t forget to ask for feedback! Your goal is to provide fast and safe delivery of their items. Customer loyalty programs and post-purchase content that's optimized for SEO in West Palm Beach also help with customer retention.  
• Advocacy – Happy customers will voluntarily recommend your business to friends and family. But sometimes, they might forget to leave a review. Make sure to ask them and make it easy for them to do so by sending them an email that allows them to rate your business or a QR code they can quickly scan and leave a review.

3. Failing to Automate the Delivery Process

You need to keep up with the fast-moving world of commerce. As companies continue to evolve to provide easier and faster service, optimizing your internal processes helps you stay ahead of the competition.  

Automation plays a crucial role in getting last-mile delivery done correctly and swiftly. As much as possible, automate manual processes, such as inventory management, packing orders, planning deliveries, answering common customer queries, and notifying customers.

By automating your processes for accepting, fulfilling, and delivering orders, you can provide quick, tailored delivery services to your customers. This also allows you to satisfy larger order volumes in a shorter time frame, which means you can scale your business faster!

4. Lack of Transparency and Poor Communication

Customers want to know what’s happening with their orders. Make sure you provide them with accurate shipping information and constant tracking updates to show that your business is dependable and trustworthy.  

This also helps put them at ease, reduces customer inquiries and anxiety, and improves post-purchase satisfaction.  

Here are some tips to help you better communicate order updates to your customers:

• Bet transparent and truthful. Let your customers know if their items are still being packed and delivered, or if the courier is experiencing delays.  
• Be timely with your updates.  
• Use a tone that’s consistent with your brand.  

• Tailor your message. It’s useful to address recipients by first name, as well as specifying what products are being shipped.
• Encourage your customers to leave feedback.  

Once customers have placed their order online, they no longer want to worry about their orders. They expect you to update them about the status of their package regularly and provide a hassle-free delivery.  

Be sure to send your customers updates through SMS or email notifications!

5. Failure to Analyze Operational Insights and Customer Feedback

To provide a better delivery service and brand experience overall, you need to have access to your customers’ data, ask for their feedback, and analyze your operational data.  

Customer intelligence can transform your delivery experience. It’s how you can access real-time insights you can use to improve your workflow and services.  

Operational insights can also help you understand where your delivery issues are occurring. Analyze your on-time rates, distance traveled, and feedback scores to have a better view of where you’re doing well and where there’s room for improvement.

You should also ask your customers directly about the delivery experience. Then, organize their feedback to spot trends and patterns.

6. Forgetting to Add Personal Touches

When it comes to providing a memorable delivery experience, you’re not just competing against big corporations like Amazon. You're also competing against other businesses in your area.  

To create a delightful experience unique to your brand, add some personal touches. You can do this by using sustainable packaging, handwritten thank you notes, personal deliveries, freebies, and maybe even a discount code they can use for their next purchase.  

62% of customers are likely to share a bad experience with others. Maintain a positive brand image by keeping your customers happy and satisfied with your service!

Take Your Delivery Experience to The Next Level to Scale Your Business Faster

Delivery experience matters to your customers. Now that you know the six common mistakes to avoid, keep them in mind to inform your delivery experience moving forward!

At Digital Resource, our digital marketing experts and SEO in West Palm Beach specialists will work with you to create a custom digital marketing plan that will put your business ahead of your competitors and help you generate more leads online!

Contact us today to start getting more sales!

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