The UK is on its knees, economically speaking, going into 2023. A long, deep recession is imminent, as high rates of inflation continue to bite for the average household. As such, markets are more competitive than ever, with businesses fighting much harder to survive. There are many metrics that define success for businesses today, but customer happiness is a foundational one. How can it be fostered effectively?
1. Shipping Options and Customer Loyalty
Customer happiness is not a straightforward metric, nor is it one that can be distilled to a handful of key behaviours or actions. But there are some essential aspects to customer happiness that, if businesses adopt them correctly, can make for a much more robust consumer base – one of which is shipping.
The e-commerce landscape is still relatively young, and intensely competitive to boot. Where a customer does not find even one small part of a multi-stage transaction to their liking, they are much more likely to abandon their cart and seek out alternatives than to continue with the transaction.
Naturally, there are multiple points of failure here. Inflexibility with payment options might cause customer bounce, and variations in product selection are perhaps the most obvious and easily-remedied issues of this type. But logistics and shipping should not be ignored, especially as individual customer habits continue to diversify from one another.
2. Understanding Shipping Options
But what shipping options might you be able to offer, that could work so well in your favour? Variety is key, as it reinforces the fundamental philosophy behind “the customer is always right”. This philosophy, incidentally, is not that customer demands should always be adhered to in the name of customer service, but rather that customer demands should be adequately met at the point of engagement – and should shape supply accordingly.
Immediacy is a quality that has only recently become possible in online or ‘distance’ retail, as supply chains improve and third-party enterprises reduce the length of that ‘last mile’ more and more. In offering same-day delivery, you allow customers the opportunity to get immediate gratification on a purchase.
3. Customer Satisfaction Without Instant Shipping
But this isn’t what all customers want. Some customers will still want predictability and stability in their ordering, and may wish to choose not only a different date for delivery, but a specific time and place on that date. Facilitating different delivery times ensures no customers are left behind according to their work schedule.
Customers may also want the opportunity to protect their investment, with either additional packaging, insurance on delivery or even their own choice of logistics provider. This level of customisability is paramount for winning customer trust, and for minimising the likelihood of negative reviews owing to poor delivery experiences.
