Direct operations
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The doorstep experience, by the numbers
The latest Doorstep Experience Report shows delivery experience still leaves a lot to be desired.
F
ollowing the publication of the 2012 Online Retail Delivery Report in January, Micros UK (formerly Snow Valley) has again teamed
up with mobile workforce software specialist Blackbay to produce the Doorstep Experience Report, focusing on the moment when the goods arrive on the customer’s doorstep. By placing orders with UK retailers for home delivery, the report was able to analyse the doorstep experience. Did the retailer tell the customer who would be delivering the goods? What tracking information was provided? And what happens when no-one is at home to sign for the parcel? Among the trends it uncovered:
More text messaging Of the 237 retailers tested, 26 (11 percent) sent a predelivery text this year, compared to just 10 in the previous year. The content within those texts varied from simply notifying customers that the item was despatched to informing customers that delivery is expected today. Nine of the messages allowed the customer to respond and
reschedule the delivery day. While it’s encouraging to see more retailers offer this service than last year, it still remains that a vast majority don’t and there’s plenty of room for improvement.
More online order tracking and more detail Micros found that almost 9 out of 10 retailers offered some sort of order tracking to the customer, however basic. Detailed carrier tracking, usually by providing a link to the carrier’s website, was provided by 64 percent of retailers, up from last year’s 57 percent.
Smarter drivers but customer service left wanting
The drivers that delivered the orders were usually smartly dressed and polite, but nearly half of them carried scruffy equipment such as well-worn devices. Worryingly, more than a quarter of the drivers were described as “rude” or “very rude” and only one followed the researchers’ specific special delivery instructions.
The failed delivery Here the experience varied significantly. Of 13 orders sent to a flat with no-one home, three were left with a neighbour not known to the customer, with no card left to explain where the goods were. Five orders were left outside the flat door. Only one driver left a phone message and tried to redeliver next day.
Commenting on the report, Nigel Doust, Blackbay’s chief executive officer, says, “This year’s report is once again a mixture of the sobering and the positive. On the one hand we see improvements in online order tracking but predelivery text interaction has only increased
Subscribing
to 11 percent, providing a significant opportunity for the industry to improve first-time delivery rates.” What happens when a delivery fails is also still hit and miss. Carlo Rimini, business unit director for ecommerce at Micros UK says, “Some of the findings are disappointing; the failed delivery experience is still highly unpredictable, many retailers are still not offering detailed order tracking to the customer, and a quarter of the drivers that delivered our orders were described as ‘rude’. However, we believe that carriers and retailers are committed to resolving these issues and we expect to see improvements next year.”
Delivery stats
Pre-order, 41% of the retailers tested told the customer which carrier would be delivering their goods
99.9% sent an order confirmation email but only 6% mentioned the carrier
81% of retailers sent a despatch email; only 41% mentioned the carrier
11% of the retailers sent predelivery text messages, up from 4% last year
On delivery, 81% of the retailers that gave a timeframe delivered on time
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