Just recently, we published a new report focused entirely on shipping and fulfilment trends for 2023 and beyond. While we collated a lot of amazing research and data from across the globe, we also spoke to leading retailers in Australia, New Zealand and beyond. It’s fair to say we learned a lot!
From the major shipping and fulfilment challenges retailers expect to see this year, to the delivery options they’re offering at checkout; you’ll want to check out the full report to get access to all our actionable insights.
In this article, we’re going to share 5 of the most fascinating insights we took away from our survey, and what they mean for retailers. Let's dive in.
Any retailer worth their salt knows that the customer always comes first. When it comes to eCommerce, nowhere is this more important than offering delivery choice at checkout. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that retailers agree.
In our survey, we asked retailers to rank on a scale of 1-10 how important delivery choice was in increasing checkout conversions. Over 80% of our survey respondents answered over 5 (Somewhat important), with a whopping 25.8% answering with a 10 (Extremely important)!
What’s more, 60% of respondents to a DigitalCommerce360 survey said they’d chosen one retailer over another because the delivery options were preferable.
Giving your customers a choice at the checkout means thinking about the following:
When running a business where the timely and accurate delivery of orders is key for the bottom line, couriers have a large part to play. For this reason, it just makes good business sense to not put all your eggs in one basket and use a multi-courier strategy.
A multi-courier strategy means giving your business a safety net and total flexibility. You can move orders to other couriers when one service is experiencing problems, add and remove couriers when required and use different couriers for their different services.
Retailers agree. Just 16% of our respondents relied on one courier, with 30.5% using 3 different couriers, and 12.2% using 5 or more.
See this data and more in Evolving Expectations: A look into the future of eCommerce shipping.
We asked them why, and they listed the following reasons:
Managing the bottom line and managing costs are always top-of-mind considerations when running a business. For many retailers relying on freight aggregators, shipping costs will be one area ripe for savings by moving to a freight enabler.
Here’s the low-down: While shipping aggregators passively serve up pricing, shipping enablers empower businesses to negotiate the best rates directly.
Aggregators mark up their pricing and profit on the difference, while enablers give retailers real-life savings that they can pass onto their customers (or keep for themselves). Aggregators also restrict retailers to selected carriers, while enablers let retailers use the couriers they want.
Our survey respondents agree, with 74% saying they prefer to negotiate their own shipping rates with couriers.
Negative delivery experiences can harm your brand. In one survey, 84% of customers said they wouldn’t make a repeat purchase after just one poor delivery experience.
Customers love knowing when an item has left your store and is on the way to them. But keeping customers in the loop is not just a way to meet expectations, it's a chance to communicate and build connections to engage with customers and build loyalty.
Here’s how retailers can deliver great shipping experiences:
Finally, we asked retailers what sustainability initiatives they were going to consider in 2023 and beyond. Perhaps unsurprisingly, sustainable packaging, carbon-offset or carbon-neutral sending, and choosing partners or couriers with a focus on sustainability ranked as the top choices.
These choices – and other sustainable moves in general – are good for buyers and sellers alike.
Australia Post found a range of enlightening stats about growing sustainability trends in its latest report, including:
For retailers, there are some important considerations to be made with regards to sustainability:
There’s one major change retailers can make right now to set themselves up for success: introduce shipping automation. Shipping automation streamlines your shipping process, reducing manual labor and errors, saving you valuable time and money in the long run. What’s more, you can simplify your shipping substantially, running everything from one central dashboard.
Check out some of our case studies to learn more, or book a demo with one of our team.
Interested in learning more about what leading retailers are planning to prioritise this year and beyond? Download your free copy of our new report, Evolving Expectations. You’ll learn about the above trends and so much more, including: How to reduce business overheads, what’s happening with returns, transparency around delivery timeframes, and ship from store.
Download your free copyAutomate your entire shipping process while delivering better experiences for your customers.
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