nShift: Delivery experience key to Black-Friday success

• Retailers must prepare their infrastructure now, to ensure consumer choice during peak season

• The “summer sales” season presents a great opportunity to test infrastructure ahead of peak

• Retailers should embrace popular PUDO (pick up / drop off) options

The speed and convenience of the delivery is more important to Black Friday shoppers than deals and discounts, according to research.  Retailers must give customers the delivery experience they want at the same time as managing an uplift in demand during peak season.  This is the view of nShift, the global leader in multi-carrier shipping software.

Black Friday – taking place on 29 November – remains one of the busiest shopping days of the year.  During the bargain bonanza, people will flock in store and online in a bid to bag the best deals.  However, according to a survey of over 1000 consumers, “free delivery” and “fast delivery” are the top two factors shoppers consider when pondering a purchase.

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The research also highlights the importance of alternative delivery and collection options such as “click and collect”.[1]  This year, experts expect PUDO (pick up / drop off) delivery options to be particularly popular.  This is when shoppers pick up their purchase from a locker or nominated collection point.

nShift, the leading software provider that enables multi-carrier delivery and experience management from checkout through returns, has created five top tips for creating a winning delivery experience fit for peak season:

1. Give customers the delivery options they want – retailers must prioritize delivery personalization and give shoppers the shipping solutions they seek.  While some expect next-day deliveries to their front door, others would prefer to pick up their parcel from a locker or nominated pick up point.  This is increasingly popular with home workers who hate being disturbed during an important call
2. Make the delivery options easy to see and scan – badging and labeling options at checkout make it simpler for the shopper to find what they want.  For example, adding a locker next to a shipping choice shows that it’s a pick up / drop off (PUDO) option
3. Create re-marketing opportunities – by taking control of order-tracking and delivery updates, retailers can ensure communications are branded in their own look and feel.  This increases loyalty and sets the scene for remarketing
4. Retain revenue from returns – as many as 30% of Black Friday purchases risk ending up as returns.  While consumers do expect a straightforward returns policy, sent-back items risk becoming the silent killer of peak-season profits.  The right delivery experience will help convert returns to exchanges, helping the retailer retain revenue
5. Work toward a greener Black Friday – shoppers are increasingly eco-conscious and they make purchasing decisions accordingly.  The right delivery process makes more sustainable delivery options available to consumers.  It should capture emissions related to deliveries so that businesses can reliably measure – and demonstrate – the success of their sustainability strategies

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To create the best customer experience, each part of the delivery process must work seamlessly together.  This is also essential for streamlining warehouse efficiency.  Deploying a series of individual point solutions to manage each aspect will require multiple integrations and processes to bring it all together.  The more links in the chain, the greater the risk of profit-threatening disruption and downtime.

David Carey, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience at nShift said, “Making big infrastructure changes during peak season is almost impossible.  But by starting to plan now, ecommerce and multi-channel retailers can ensure they have the infrastructure they need to ‘go for gold’ at the end of the year.  The forthcoming summer sales period creates a good opportunity to test and learn to ensure that all aspects of the delivery process chime together when it really matters.”

Online retailers should center the business on a scalable delivery management system to minimize the risk of disruption.  Doing so creates a better experience for the customer.  Crucially, it makes it easier for businesses to track, collate and analyze data across the process.  This helps retailers better understand their customers and improve performance.

nShift enables multi-carrier delivery and experience management from checkout through returns.  The platform includes connections to over 1000 carriers, as well as supporting integrations with more than 450 business systems, including ERP, shopping carts, warehouse management systems, and more.  With nShift, retailers and warehouses can create a delivery experience that includes checkout, book and print, order tracking and returns.