What is a Delivery Strategy?
A delivery strategy is basically a roadmap that sets out how you’ll get your products to your customers, taking into account company resources and customer expectations. It provides a framework for the entire delivery process, from setting prices to choosing packaging materials and engaging the right carrier.
For example, is it viable to offer free shipping? Will you operate your own fleet or use a third-party delivery service? How will you ensure the safety of perishable products? Will you use route optimization to plan driver schedules?
The strategy should be built into your business model, ensuring that the essential building blocks are in place—such as robust warehouse management, and efficient systems for processing orders. You also need to identify potential problems, such as supplier delays or transport issues, and create contingency plans.
Home Delivery Strategies
Although customers may appreciate having the option to collect items in-store or from a parcel locker, most people enjoy the convenience of having items delivered to their doorstep.
Home Delivery
For e-commerce retailers, the logistics of home delivery can be tricky. Customers need to be around to receive large items or provide a signature, and it also involves dropping items at multiple locations. It’s vital that your strategy gives you the means to honor delivery slots, track orders, and communicate with carriers.
Of course, home delivery is not confined to online sales—a customer might visit a physical store and buy a large item that won’t fit in the car, or place a backorder. Curbside pickup also gained popularity during the pandemic, with the fast, contactless service enabling drivers to make more drops.
Delivery Speed
77% of customers abandon a purchase because they don’t like the delivery options, so it’s best to give them a choice. Some customers are willing to wait longer for their goods if shipping is free, but they need an option for same-day or next-day delivery for urgent items. You can also set different prices for premium times, such as weekends or holidays.
Think about the most suitable transport, and make sure road-based routes are optimized. It’s helpful to have multiple warehouses close to your customer base, which speeds up delivery and reduces transport costs.
Supply Chain Metrics
It’s important to measure the metrics, otherwise you can’t tell if your strategy is working. With home delivery, you need to look at the number of parcels delivered on time, how many had to be rescheduled, and how many were returned due to mistakes. Then you can identify the root causes of any problems and set benchmarks.
Because the delivery stage doesn’t exist in a vacuum, you also need to monitor your inventory control, supplier management, and warehouse practices. Do you frequently run low on stock? Could you improve order processing times? Don’t forget to evaluate customer feedback.
Delivery Time Windows
A delivery window might be a four-hour slot or a full morning or afternoon, but some carriers offer narrower windows at a premium cost (24% of shoppers would be happy to pay more for a one-or two-hour window of their choosing).
For precise timing, you and your customers need the ability to track the parcel’s journey. Customers should receive real-time updates and a map showing the driver’s location—ideally, they’ll communicate directly with the driver to provide instructions on how to find the house or where to leave a parcel safely.
The main thing to remember is that if you’ve promised delivery at a specific time, you better stick to it!
How to Increase Conversion Rates Using Delivery Strategy
A sound delivery strategy is a great opportunity to increase conversion rates, but you have to know what your customers want from you. Carry out surveys and use customer data to learn about their behaviors and preferences.
Header With Headline Offering
Once you’ve determined which delivery options will please your customers, you need to display them clearly on your website. On every page, you should have a header with the headline offering, plus a link to the delivery options and prices.
As we’ve mentioned, customers are encouraged to spend more if there’s a delivery discount. You could set a threshold, such as free shipping if you spend more than $50. Or, if you decide to offer free delivery across the board, you could promote an upgrade to a faster delivery service.
Postage Prices
When you present your range of delivery options, display the prices prominently so that there are no surprises at checkout. Make this page as simple and readable as you can, and be sure to include any extra fees, such as taxes and duties for international shipping.
We already know that customers love free delivery and 78% of them are willing to spend more in order to get it. Another option is to charge a flat rate, which makes things simple and also incentivizes people to add more to their cart without incurring extra fees. Alternatively, calculated delivery means the customer always pays a fair price based on weight and destination.
Source: grow.bigcommerce.com
Checkout and Basket Pages
Keep the checkout process simple—you don’t want customers to abandon their baskets in confusion. Use a clear layout and show a breakdown of item prices, delivery fees, and savings. It’s good to offer a choice of payment options, and display prices in the customer’s currency.
Offer the option to amend the basket before checkout, or return to the product pages and add more items. Once the order is done, a confirmatory email should be generated instantly. And if someone does abandon their basket, a personalized message is a great way to win them back.
How to Encourage Customers to Purchase Again
Once you’ve made a sale, the next challenge is customer retention. Holding on to your regular shoppers is more cost-effective than attracting new customers, so use these initiatives to keep people coming back.
Catalog or Leaflet in the Delivery Package
This is a great chance to show off your product range, while well-designed material helps to improve customer perceptions and brand recognition. Recipients can flick through it at their leisure—it’s refreshing to go old-school and browse products without scrolling on a screen.
Catalogs can highlight new products, top-sellers, or items you need to shift, and also contain useful information about your brand. You could create a promotional leaflet with a coupon that customers can bring into a physical store or use online.
Leaflet of Best Selling Products
It makes sense to promote the products that do well—there’s a reason why they’re popular, so it’s more likely that other customers will want to buy them. Brightpearl’s product performance analytics will help you identify your best sellers.
The leaflet might include product reviews, which are typically trusted by customers. Plus, you can target a specific audience by only sending leaflets to those who demonstrate a preference for this product type. Design a template to help you put leaflets together.
Freebie or Discount Code
Source: balancingeverything.com
Everyone loves a freebie! It makes customers feel valued, even if they’ve had to spend a lot to qualify. You could offer a product discount or free shipping with a subsequent purchase, so you still make some money. Create a sense of urgency by making it a limited-time offer.
Again, discount coupons can be tailored to customer preferences, using the data stored in your CRM. You could also use the opportunity to offload excess stock or products that aren’t doing so well by selling them at a discount.
Tips to WOW Your Customers
Customers have plenty of choice when it comes to online retail, so you need to make sure your company stands out by offering awesome customer experiences. They expect that you’ll deliver their items on time, but you can go way beyond that with these ideas.
Astonishing Packaging
While the main point of packaging is to keep items safe in transit, it’s even better if it looks good. A cool design will boost brand awareness and make you stick in customers’ minds, even if it’s just stickers or stamps. Wrapping products in tissue will protect them as well as looking attractive.
Packaging with the wow factor will encourage customers to show their friends or even share on social media as an “unboxing” experience—you might find your brand featured on YouTube!
Free Gift
It’s worth noting that if you’re selling via Amazon, you have to use their packaging—but that doesn’t mean you can’t customize in other ways. For example, instead of a discount coupon, you could actually include a small free gift in the parcel.
Even if it’s just a bit of branded swag such as a free pen or keyring, people enjoy getting a surprise. If you don’t have the budget to hand out gifts to everyone, you could reserve the option for VIP customers (Brightpearl can automate this action for you).
Source: asicentral.com
Customized Card
Personalization is an important tool in wowing customers, and a customized card is a great way to thank them for their support. It’s most cost-effective if you include it in a parcel, but you could send a card at another time, such as their birthday, to encourage further purchases (with a coupon tailored to their preferences). Cards and free gifts are also useful if you need to apologize for a delay or mistake.
Delivery With Brightpearl
Brightpearl understands that the whole supply chain is interconnected, and every stage needs to run smoothly if delivery is to be successful. As well as shipping and order fulfillment, the retail operating system includes advanced tools for managing your inventory, warehouse, and suppliers.
Our Automation Engine streamlines all your processes to guard against delays, mispicks, and mispacks. It auto-generates shipping labels and packing slips, as well as documentation for international delivery. You can track orders throughout their journey and manage returns seamlessly.
Brightpearl has integrations with all the major shipping carriers and 3PLs, plus a native connector with FBA, giving your customers plenty of shipping options. It’s easy to pre-select dropshipping, multi-location, or partial fulfillment. You can also ship according to channel, and automatically choose the most cost-effective carrier for each order.
Other Benefits of Using Brightpearl
Retail-Specific
Brightpearl is designed for retailers, giving you the tools to run your business without charging for those you don’t need. As well as the features mentioned previously, there’s a built-in POS and CRM, plus a ton of integrations. And you get implementation, training, and support from retail experts.
Full Visibility
With complete control of your inventory and warehouse, there’s less risk of delays—or of damaged or spoiled items accidentally being sent to customers. Automatic replenishment means you’re never understocked, while data is synced across channels and updated whenever an order is processed or returned.
Financial Control
Brightpearl offers a choice of built-in accounting or integrations with systems like Xero and QuickBooks. Either way, all your financial data feeds into your accounting in real time, so you can instantly see key metrics. You can auto-generate invoices and purchase orders, and figure out landed costs for international shipping.
Built for Growth
With its affordable SaaS model, plus the significant cost savings from automation, Brightpearl is as suitable for startups as it is for large enterprises. It’s also highly scalable, with the opportunity to adjust your tech stack for an agile response to demand.
Final Thoughts
A strategic plan for delivery is essential if you want to retain your customers and exceed their expectations. Delivering their purchases on time and in perfect condition is the least they expect—you need to offer a range of delivery options, plus little extras to delight the recipient.
Substandard or manual processes won’t cut it, so make Brightpearl part of your digital transformation and streamline your fulfillment system to ensure you can always deliver what you promise.