Rev Up Your Online Customer Experience With Logistics
Continued from page 91
shopping experience. Commissioned by UPS, the comScore study polled more than 3,100 online shoppers and evaluated consumer perceptions and shopping habits ranging from pre-pur- chase to delivery and even the returns process. Ultimately, the survey found that the ability to control deliveries and having increased visibility were the most important factors driving today’s online shoppers. Following are highlights of top study findings and advice for automotive parts suppliers on strategies to address online cus- tomer expectations.
Options, Options and More Options
One of the keys to success with online shoppers is to provide them with a variety of delivery options to meet their needs. The comScore Online Customer Experience study found that while 67% of shoppers preferred the most economical delivery option, the majority of respondents also desired the option to speed up shipments in urgent scenarios, such as the need for a crucial part. Long delivery lead times also can be a major deterrent for online shoppers. The study found that 80% of online shoppers reported recently abandoning their online shopping carts, and 78% of those respondents cited the specified delivery time or a delivery time of more than five days as their reason for cart abandonment.
In order to address online cus- tomers’ preferences for delivery date options, look for shipping partners that offer a number of flexible ship- ping options, ranging from premium express delivery to more economical options, such as ground delivery. The more shipping options made available to online customers, the more likely they are to follow through with their online purchases.
Communication Is Key
Similar to providing online shop- pers with multiple delivery options, retailers should be aware that shop- pers want to know the details regard- ing their delivery date prior to making an online purchase. Provid- ing online customers with an accu- rate delivery date from the beginning can further ensure that customer expectations are being met. Addi- tionally, 46% of survey respondents said that receiving a product when expected led them to recommend an online retailer.
Online shoppers not only want to know when they will receive a pack- age, but also want to use technology to stay on top of their delivery. Of the online shoppers surveyed, 39% said that receiving an e-mail or text delivery alert was the most convenient form of notification.
There are a number of tools available to assist online retailers with these cus- tomer preferences for increased com- munication and visibility. These tools range from enabling retailers to place package tracking capabilities directly on their websites to solutions that help
retailers proactively alert customers of their delivery via e-mail or text.
Put Shoppers in the Driver’s Seat
In addition to multiple delivery options and visibility into the status of deliveries, online shoppers also desire the ability to control package delivery and timing even after their orders are placed. This is particularly true for customers who cannot always be home when deliveries are scheduled to arrive. The comScore study found that many online shoppers were interested in the ability to reroute a package to another address or want to specify if a package can be left with a neighbor.
Services such as UPS My Choice proactively alert consumers about upcoming deliveries and give them the ability to reschedule or re-route pack- ages to meet their specific schedule.
Just as Easy in Reverse
The online customer experience doesn’t end once a package is deliv- ered. Returns (or reverse logistics) are a key part of the customer experience. If a product needs to be returned or shipped back to the retailer, an easy or seamless returns process is an opportunity to improve the online shopping experience—and even gain a competitive advantage. The com- Score study found that 62% of online
Lead Management With CompuSystems, Continued from page 91
“They can send out a broadcast e-mail. They can send out individual e-mails. They can download the list. But really what we’re trying to do is remind them of the people who came to their booth, the leads and opportunities to continue the booth experience beyond the last day of the Show. As a complement to that, we send a BuyerConnect to every attendee who had his or her badge scanned by at least one of our systems
92 SEMA Show Daily
to say here are the exhibitors that you visited.”
For pre-Show lead generation, the company also offers a program called TrafficMax. First deployed in 2000, TrafficMax allows exhibitors to go into a self-serve system and essentially mine the Show registration database and visitor profiles gathered by CompuSy- stems during the registration process. “What is their principle business?” McCaffray asked. “What are their reg-
istration categories? Are they a buyer? The exhibitor can go through there and pinpoint the people they want to communicate with [and] can then send a broadcast e-mail or download a contact list. TrafficMax enables an exhibitor to take a little more control of their destiny and reach out to the people who are registered and say come to my booth and see me.” Of course, getting buyers to come to your SEMA Show booth and see
you is the bottom line. Admittedly, exhibiting at the SEMA Show is quite an investment, but it’s well worth the time and money when done right.
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to get your lead- management strategy in order. Cov- ering all the above basics before, during and after the Show will put you well on the road toward a suc- cessful 2012 SEMA Show.
shoppers considered having a return label right in the box to be the ideal returns scenario. The survey also found that easy-to print return labels and automatic refunds were highly desired by most online shoppers. Most importantly, survey respon- dents reported that a positive returns experience would lead them to shop more often with a retailer and to recommend the retailer to a friend. Online retailers should keep this last step in the online shopping process in mind as they create and manage their shipping and logistics strategies. From the very beginning of the purchasing process all the way to the returns process, logistics plays a sig- nificant role in the online customer experience. As automotive parts and accessories continue to move to this growing retail platform, suppliers and retailers should keep online con- sumer perceptions and expectations top of mind as they design and evolve their logistics process. For addi- tional information on the UPS and comScore Online Customer Experi- ence Study, a whitepaper detailing the findings can be downloaded at
www.thenewlogistics.ups.com/retail/ comscore-survey.
Kristin DeBates is the UPS corporate marketing manager for the automotive segment.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100