"Retailers need to provide more options"

The e-commerce industry is growing, and soon online sales are expected to overtake the high street. The current pandemic has accelerated the number of people buying online. New habits have been created as people turned to the Internet to purchase essential and non-essential items during the lockdown.The expectations of customers online have been steadily growing, too. Customers know what they want, and they will choose where they shop based on whether they're getting the right shopping experience. Crafting this perfect experience goes beyond just having a well-designed website. E-commerce delivery is an essential part of meeting customer expectations: 60 per cent of customers say that they would buy again from a retailer if they had a positive delivery experience*. If retailers can get delivery and returns right, they can increase sales, grow their business and build customer loyalty.

As customers browse online and choose where they will purchase, delivery is already important to your sales. Retailers can't have a one-size-fits-all approach to delivery, as each customer will have a delivery preference that fits in with their own lifestyle. This is why it's important to offer customers a range of delivery options. Offering this is essential for making sales, as 45 per cent of customers will abandon a purchase when there is a lack of convenient delivery options.* Offering click and collect locations, different days and times, and a range of price points means they can choose what works for them. If retailers can't offer this, customers will take their purchases elsewhere.  
Delivery isn't the only aspect for the final mile that is important before a purchase is made. Returns are part of good customer experience, and 78 per cent of consumers consider the quality of a returns service when choosing where to shop. Plus, 85 per cent of consumers have a preference of how they would like to make a return*, so offering choice and convenience in the returns process is vital, too. The rate of returns is growing and becoming a key part of the customer experience, so it's important that it isn't neglected.

60 per cent of customers would buy again from a retailer if they had a good delivery experience* and one of the ways to achieve this is constant communication with the customer, from the purchase to the doorstep and back again. 70 per cent of consumers consider all types of pre-delivery notifications important.* They…