Personalised delivery is the future for retailers

The retail and e-commerce marketplace is extremely crowded, with hundreds of brands constantly competing against each other to win basket conversions. It’s no secret that many retailers, especially those based on the UK high-streets, have been struggling over the past few years. Big brands including Debenhams, John Lewis and Mothercare have all closed down multiple stores.

Consequently, in a bid to persuade shoppers to choose them over every other business that stocks the same or similar products, retailers have been continuously offering a range of discounts and other incentives. As such, the consumer has now been firmly placed in the driving seat, able to demand and dictate a new minimum level of customer service requirements. If one retailer does not offer next-day delivery, it’s no longer a problem – there will multiple other competitors that will.

The currency of convenience

Shoppers no longer value price over everything else. Instead of buying from the cheapest sellers, consumers are increasingly preferring to shop with businesses that can offer them the best customer experience. In fact, according to a 2018 report by Gladly, 68% of consumers would pay more for a product if a company has great service. As a result, online retailers are feeling the pressure to jump through an increasing number of hoops as the definition of ‘good customer experience’ continues to evolve.

One area of retail that is particularly subject to this shift is delivery. Consumers now value choice and control in delivery more than ever before, and online retailers must focus on this to stay competitive.

Next-day delivery is no longer viewed as an innovation – it is a minimum requirement. According to a survey of 2,000 UK adults that all shop frequently online, same-day delivery is the feature that they value the most, and 26% of respondents said that the worst thing about shopping online was the slow delivery times. It is therefore shocking that many top retailers are not taking advantage of this opportunity to delight customers.

A study conducted by ParcelLab that analysed the shipping and delivery processes of the top 100 online retailers revealed that only 7% offer same-day delivery, while less than half (42%) provide shoppers with the choice of weekend delivery. A mere 25% enable customers to pick an exact timeslot for delivery. Thus, this is a space where retailers can make a real impact and stand out from the crowd.

Adding the personal touch to the delivery service

However, over the last five years, fulfilment has come a long way, with new technologies enabling supply chain and delivery services to be faster and more effective. As a result, consumers now have countless options when ordering online, from same-day delivery to click-and-collect thanks to omnichannel integration.

However, with consumers’ lives becoming increasingly busy and stressful, convenience is highly coveted. Personalised delivery options provide consumers with great flexibility and control over their orders, ensuring successful delivery first time, every time. Key industry players are taking exciting steps towards the future of delivery. For example, Waitrose recently trialled a 2-hour delivery service, ‘Waitrose Rapid Delivery’, in a bid to cater to the consumer trend of frequent and often, ultra-convenient grocery shopping rather than a routinely scheduled weekly shop.

Other offerings such as enabling shoppers to edit their delivery address and time slot after the order has been confirmed, right up until it is due to be delivered, are important steps forward. A quarter of failed E-commerce deliveries can be attributed to the inability to change an address after the order is placed, which shows just how important it is to give consumers more power after a sale has been made. As well as this, PacelLab’s research showed that 27% of retailers do not communicate with customers at all during the delivery process, while only 4% provide shoppers with personalised information about their order status.

As such, consumers are unable to plan around scheduled delivery times, contributing to delivery failures. Flexible delivery addresses and increased communication will eradicate this dissatisfaction and place retailers ahead of the game. Currently, as few as 4% of retailers let customers alter their delivery details after their order has been confirmed, including when it is already in transit.

Innovative delivery systems will soon be able to choose the most convenient delivery details automatically by learning a customer’s daily routine and changing an address or time accordingly. The next step would use IoT connectivity and mobile devices to track where a shopper is likely to be at which time, without them having to input this data manually. This will further increase convenience by accounting for last minute changes in routine, such as working from home or attending a doctor’s appointment.

Amazon recently won a patent for ‘mobile pickup locations’ which would work hand-in-hand with routine-led delivery systems if implemented. It would see Amazon delivering parcels to a bus or train that commuters regularly take to work, allowing them to collect their order without going out of the way of their normal routine.

However, for smaller retailers, where this type of technology is not yet viable, offering shorter delivery slots and extending the period during which orders can be delivered would give consumers more freedom when purchasing items online. This would remove the final barrier to payment and would be especially welcomed by those who undertake shift work or couriers who want to work around other lifestyle commitments.

Unattended in-home delivery

Going one step further, the popularity of IoT devices has led to a recent delivery revolution – unattended in-home delivery. Using IoT enabled doorbell and front door technology, unattended in-home delivery enables shoppers to grant couriers temporary access into their homes. This can be done from anywhere and only requires shoppers to have a tablet or smartphone that is connected to their smart-home network. Ultimately, this could revolutionise deliveries, as shoppers will no longer be restricted to selecting delivery times when they know they will be home.

Furthermore, this also provides retailers with the opportunity to upsell by offering additional services. For example, if it was a grocery delivery, the courier would be able to put away frozen and refrigerated goods. This technology is still in trial stages, with large retailers including Walmart, Waitrose and Edeka leading the way. However, it won’t be long until the increased adoption of smart-home technology will lead to the full roll-out of these offerings as mainstream services. In a similar vein, Amazon recently launched ‘Amazon Key’ which allows customers with smart-garages to opt-in to getting their packages placed securely inside their garage. This has already been made permanently available in 50 locations and is expected to grow at a rapid pace.

Consumers are increasingly valuing the experience and service they receive from retailers over purely paying the lowest price – the ability to receive flexible and convenient delivery is certainly a huge attraction for many shoppers.

As such, retailers need to be taking steps to implement personalised delivery. While IoT enabled smart deliveries may still be futuristic, offering flexible delivery locations, smaller delivery time slots and selective delivery days is possible and has already been implemented by a handful of innovative retailers. Thus, offering flexible and personalised delivery is the way for retailers to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Gavin Masters, industry principal, Maginus