Importance of delivery in eCommerce: Internet shopping is taking the retail world by storm, and the sector has enjoyed near meteoric growth over the last decade or so. Indeed, recent research suggests the e-commerce market has grown from a global value of around $1.3 trillion in 2014 to approximately $4.9 trillion in 2021 – with that figure expected to grow by a further 50% over the next four years to a total of $7.4 trillion by 2025.
However, with so many retail outlets now embracing the e-commerce phenomenon, it’s becoming more difficult for stores to carve out their particular share of increasingly crowded markets.
The importance of the overall shopping experience
While having a well-designed, functional website that has been optimized to be found in search engines via SEO is vital for online retailers, perhaps more important these days is the overall shopping experience. The ease with which site visitors can be converted into paying customers and finally receive their goods is an intrinsic part of the entire online shopping process and can mean the difference between making it online or falling by the wayside.
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Why your delivery service is so vital
As online shoppers, we’ve grown used to the idea that purchasing on the internet will inevitably involve a short delay between buying goods and receiving them. However, one surefire way to alienate your customers and potentially miss out on future sales is to offer poor delivery service.
It’s also worth remembering that in today’s uber-connected world, sometimes just one bad review could be enough to sway a prospective customer and push them away to a rival’s website so your level of customer service is a vital part of the e-com package.
In internet terms, a sale isn’t considered complete until the client physically receives their goods and research shows that a whopping 69% of consumers would be “far less likely” to shop at a store that failed to deliver items within two days of the promised arrival date.
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Retention vs finding new customers
Statistics suggest it can cost anywhere between 5 and 25 times more to source a new customer compared to retaining them and achieving a repeat sale. These figures alone should be enough to convince you of the importance of providing a slick and professional service from start to finish (including prompt delivery).
However, when you also consider the potential damage to both brand and reputation, it should be clear that client care should be top of your list of priorities.
Sourcing the right delivery company
With such massive growth in the e-com sector over recent years, it should come as little surprise that there are now multiple options for finding the right delivery company for your company. From dedicated partner firms to hot shot trucking companies that specialize in hot shot trucking services, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to picking delivery options.
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Additional steps to improve your customer service
As mentioned above, customer service is now one of the primary influencing factors in winning and retaining clients and can undoubtedly give you a competitive edge.
If you want to get serious about how you treat your clients, you should consider investing in dedicated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software that can monitor and look after every stage of the customer journey from their first visit to making repeat sales.
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