nShift, the global leader in delivery & experience management (DMXM), highlights five ways retailers can unlock savings and additional revenues from the delivery experience in the run up to Black Friday and beyond.
Consumer confidence across Europe has recovered strongly during 2024. Yet pricing and discounts will remain the most important factors in purchasing decisions for most shoppers for this year’s Black Friday shopping bonanza. This will add to pressures on retailers to discount heavily throughout peak season, with knock-on impacts on profit margins.
Businesses can use data gathered throughout the delivery process to turn peak-season bargain hunters into loyal customers, while boosting the bottom line.
nShift’s guide, “Creating a data-driven delivery experience”, outlines five approaches for combining data from deliveries and sales to raise profits:
- Comparing and reducing carrier costs. Last-mile deliveries account for over half of all logistics costs – but these costs cannot always be recovered from customers. By comparing carrier rates and negotiating reductions, retailers can reduce their last-mile costs.
- Optimizing checkouts to improve conversions. As with payments, customers prefer to receive their items in different ways. For example, they may want signed-for deliveries for fragile items, or PUDO (out of home pick up/drop off locations) for clothing or cosmetics. Tailoring the checkout experience to reflect customer needs can enable retailers to increase conversions by up to 20%.
- Reducing profit erosion from returns. The right returns software ensures resaleable items can be swiftly returned to the shelves. And insights into the reasons for returns can help retailers improve product descriptions, so more customers “buy right first time” to minimize returns in future.
- Turning delivery tracking into additional sales opportunities – customers are more engaged with ecommerce brands while they wait for deliveries than at any other time in their journey. Those that can weave product promotions and offers into post-purchase communications and processes are more likely to benefit from repeat purchases and upselling.
- Building customer loyalty with great delivery experiences. 85% of shoppers will consider buying elsewhere after just one bad delivery experience. Armed with data on every delivery they make, retailers can press carrier partners for improvements, and ensure they keep their promises to customers.
Maarten Tops, product director enterprise at nShift, said: “In their quest to offer customers the best Black-Friday deals, many retailers will cut profit margins to the bone. But they can still contain costs and build efficiencies – and data gathered during the delivery process holds the keys.
“This data fills a key blind spot in the customer journey, enabling retailers to build a clear understanding of every stage, from the homepage to the doorstep. It enables them to go into the new year armed with insights that can help reduce costs, build loyalty, and drive operational efficiencies.”
nShift’s delivery and experience management (DMXM) suite is a unique combination of enterprise-class delivery management, a library of 1000+ carriers, and customer-facing applications. It provides a joined-up, end-to-end experience from the checkout to the doorstep.
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