Improving The Post-Purchase Experience For Customers
With digital retailing continuing to evolve, more and more physical retail locations continue to struggle. With the capabilities of online shopping and e-tail expanding, in connection with consumers being mindful of current pandemic status, physical retail locations are being outperformed by their online counterparts. The exception being most essential physical stores such as grocery and supermarkets, but even these locations have identified ways to service their customers safely online. What functionality is making the difference for these online portals, though? The ability to view all of an organization’s stock and compare it via functionality, price and reviews can be the difference customers are looking for.
Perhaps the largest contributor to this shift of preference has been Amazon. As Amazon has continued to push the needle forward, they’ve transformed the way in which retailers operate within the e-commerce space. Visiting Amazon’s marketplace gives customers the ability to browse over twelve million different products from a wide range of suppliers. Amazon rarely struggles with customers returning, as they’ve clocked in an average 200 million users visiting the platform every month. Of course, this sort of influence can impact smaller online retailers by a large margin. As the expectations set forth on the rest of the industry, many smaller online retailers struggle to keep up, particularly in regards to shipping options.
The biggest problem that smaller retailers face when competing against Amazon is its logistical prowess. In order to make up for being unable to ensure two-day shipping on each of their orders, smaller online retailers have had to adapt in every way they know how. While their shipping efforts might not match Amazon’s, these smaller online retailers have made significant changes to improve customer experience, starting with robust tracking information for online orders. Customers are able to visit a branded tracking page that will detail each step of the processing and delivery process for their orders. So despite having to wait a bit longer for their packages, customers remain informed.
While customers may prefer the expedited shipping times from Amazon, they can also appreciate how these smaller businesses are attempting to prioritize customer experience. Free two-day shipping is nearly impossible to keep up with, no matter how good a businesses’ automated storage and retrieval system is. An additional way these retailers are making a change is through the cost associated with shipping. Customers love receiving their orders in a timely manner but hate paying the costs associated with that rate unless it’s necessary. In fact, these customers would be willing to wait a bit longer for their package assuming it doesn’t cost them anything to ship it. This is where smaller online retailers can focus their efforts for maximum return on investment.
While these considerations are a great start for struggling online retailers, the competition doesn’t end there. For more valuable tips for staying in close contest with Amazon, take a moment to check out the infographic coupled alongside this post.
Author bio: John Hinchey is VP of Sales for Westfalia Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of logistics solutions for plants, warehouses and distribution centers. He has more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing and warehouse automation.
